UAE No 1 destination for GCC nationals buying property

The number of nationals and national corporate bodies of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (GCC) who bought real estate in another GCC member country, other than their home country, increased by 51.1% in 2011 to 16,107, up from 10,654 in 2010, recent figures from the GCC Secretariat General Information Centre Statistical Department, showed.

This takes the total of such inter-GCC real estate ownerships to 93,767 by the end of 2011, compared to 77,804 by the end of the previous years.

The UAE came first among GCC nations in terms of attracting nationals of other GCC nationals with 10,873 registered contracts (67.5%), followed by Oman with 3,364 registered contracts representing a 20.9% share, and Bahrain in third place with 1,189 contracts.

In 2011, Kuwaitis were the largest buyers of real estate in other GCC countries, with 8,130 ownerships, followed by Saudis (2,312) and Emiratis (2,267).

Allowing nationals of GCC member countries to own real estates in other GCC countries is among the ten domains of the GCC common market as defined by the economic agreement in 2001.

The agreement gives GCC national natural and legal persons (entities) of any member state the same
treatment accorded to its own citizens, without differentiation or discrimination, in all
economic activities including  real estate ownership.

Follow Emirates 24|7 on Google News.