Step-by-Step Guide: Find Where to Invest in Dubai Real Estate

A successful real estate investment starts with a good location! So, if you’re planning to invest and wondering how to find the best area for property investment in Dubai, this guide is crafted for you. 

You will find out how to choose the right location step by step while bearing in mind all the important factors of a good investment in the real estate market.

1. Acknowledge the Reason for Investing in Real Estate

Investing in Dubai through buying a property is a big decision, so in order to make the best of it when it comes to choosing the right area, it’s important to identify your goal. 

In order to decide where to invest in Dubai real estate, you should decide whether you want to

  • Own a property to secure the value of your money or 
  • Buy a unit and rent it so you have extra income, or 
  • Get a unit in an off-plan project and buy it at a higher price after completion. 

All these are realistic goals for investment in real estate, but identifying exactly your purpose is important when choosing the location of your property. Every goal has different factors to be considered and a success matrix that the location influences. 

2. Decide Between Off-plan or Ready-to-Move Options

After aligning with your goal, you should decide on whether you want to get a property in off-plan projects or you’re more into ready to move options. 

Additionally, this also depends on your budget; find below more of the difference between both.

  • Off-plan: tend to have lower prices than ready ones. Besides, it’s more suitable in case you want to pay in instalments.
  • Ready-to-Move: It’s optimum if you have enough cash or planning to get a mortgage.

A tool that can help you have an overview of the available options in the off-plan market in Dubai is New Projects powered by Data Guru on Property Finder’s website. 

With just one click, you will have an overview of

  • The available projects
  • Their locations
  • Average prices
  • Estimated completion date
  • Developer
  • Unit sizes 
  • Amenities and services

If you decide to go on with the off-plan units, then when choosing the ideal location, you should start thinking of the following to exclude the out-of-scope options.

  • Your budget
  • The unit type and size
  • Completion date
  • Developer. 

3. Check the Price Range of the Communities

Here comes the most important step: exploring the average price range of properties in Dubai. It’s significant because surely among the main factors that influence your choice is the budget. 

So, having a deeper understanding of the market’s prices will help you narrow down your choices in terms of location. 

How to Get the Insight

You don’t have to worry about how you can know about the prices, as you can simply use Property Finder’s new tool, Price Map powered by Data Guru.

Why to Use Price Map Tool

  • Quick Insights: it gives you a full overview of the price range of the different areas in Dubai in one place. 
  • Easy and Simple Navigation: once you open it, you will find all Dubai communities in different shades of blue, reflecting the varying price range. 

    Each shade reflects whether this area has the highest, average, or lowest prices either for buying or renting. 
  • Trusted Source of Information. All the data generated in this tool are sourced from the DLD. 

How to Use it

  • You just need to open the tool through Property Finder’s website, then from the drop-down menu, choose Data Guru, then Price Map.
  • Once you open it, you will find the communities in shades of blue categorised according to their price range. From the top of the page, choose
    • Rent or buy
    • The type of unit
    • Number of bedrooms
  • Afterwards, simply click on the community you find suitable in terms of price, and then a small box will appear on the left side, showing the price range within this area. 

If you find this community suitable and want to know more about it, click on the “Explore Community” button on the left side box. 

4. Consider the Services and Amenities That Match Your Investment Purpose

Dubai is home to an array of distinct neighbourhoods, each offering its own traits and potential for investment. 

You should look for areas that match your investment objectives, like proximity to major business hubs, transport connections, local amenities, and planned infrastructure developments.

Find below which factors you should consider depending on some of the investment purposes:

  • Planning to own a property to rent later on for extra income, you should then consider areas that are close to
    • Schools
    • Universities
    • business/industrial areas
    • public transportations
    • Tourist attractions (in case you’re considering short-term rentals for frequent visitors/tourists)
  • Considering having your own home as a future investment, then you should bear in mind your needs, like accessibility to your work, gyms, hospitals, and more.

5. Know More About the Historical Transactions in the Community

During your joureny for where to invest in Dubai real estate, exploring the historical transactions is key to fine-tuning your options.

The historical transactions are simply the sales and purchases recorded for a particular building or area, reflecting the people’s demand and popularity. Accordingly, a high number of transactions signals a strong demand, suggesting it’s a place people are keen to call home.

Additionally, such an area is likely a wise investment, whether you aim to rent it out or hold it as a financial asset, as a bustling transaction history suggests you could sell the property with ease later on.

How to Get the Insight

You must be wondering how you can get the historical transactions for a specific community, the answer is through Data Guru on Property Finder using the “Historical Transactions” tool. 

In a few seconds, you will get the data of the area you are interested in:

  • The number of historical transactions in this area. It tells you how many times people bought properties in this area, reflecting the demand for sale in this location. 
  • The prices the units were sold for. This gives you visibility over the average prices for sale so you have a reference before buying and also know if this location suits your budget or not. 

Steps to get the historical transactions of a community in Dubai

  • Open Data Guru through the PF website
  • Click on “Historical Transactions
  • Then, make sure that the first drop-down menu is “Sold.”
  • Write down the location of the unit.  
  • Adjust the filters to have information for your specific queries, like Property Type, No of bedrooms, price range, and more.

After adjusting all the search inputs, you will have the following dashboard, including: 

  • The number of transactions 
  • A list of the historical transactions of this unit with the following information
    • Sold for price
    • Date of transaction
    • Ready to move or off-plan contract
    • Type of unit

6. Check the Gross Rental Yields of the Unit in the Chosen Area

The gross rental yield is also one of the factors that you should look into when finalising the list of location options you are considering. It’s the average percentage of sale value that you, as an owner, can earn per year when the property is rented. 

Moreover, this factor is important to consider especially for those planning to invest in property renting in Dubai. 

The Gross Rental Yields have a great influence on your decision as it’s one of the matrices for a successful investment. 

How to Get the Insight

The good news is that you can easily check this on the Historical Transactions tool powered by Data Guru on Property Finder’s site. 

Steps to Know the Gross Rental Yields of a unit in an area is almost the same as the above one for “Historical Transactions”. After adjusting the filters, the below dashboard will appear, including: 

  • The average price per sqft
  • Average price
  • Gross Rental Yield

Additionally, this tool is also super beneficial for buying to-rent purposes; if you adjust the drop-down menu for “Rented”, it will show you the number of “Average Prices for New Rentals” and “Average Prices for Renewed Rentals”.

Such insights surely impact your location choice as areas with high new rentals and renewed rentals reflect the great demand and high potential for units to be leased. Accordingly, you can easily exclude or include communities with this data-based tool. 

7. Find the Best Property Options in the List of Areas You Have

After you narrow down the location options based on the various important factors that influence your investment, you should now have a list of the top locations that match your goal. 

You can find a huge variety of properties across any location you have on the Property Finder website with the most trusted agents that are ready to help with your search for property investment. 

Where to invest in Dubai real estate is one of the important questions you should answer to ensure you’re on the right track; there is no better way to find it than depending on data and insights