Dubai has recorded continued progress and retained its position as the most transparent real estate market in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, according to JLL and LaSalle Investment Management’s 2016 Global Real Estate Transparency Index (GRETI).
The Emirate placed (48th) out of 109 markets covered globally to remain in the ‘Semi-Transparent’ category, improving by a respectable 23 points to be among the top 25 global improvers. Abu Dhabi, ranked (59th) globally, while Saudi Arabia (63rd) and Egypt (65th) have nudged into the ‘Semi-Transparent’ group for the first time.
Dubai has moved closer to the top of the ‘Semi-Transparent’ category, where it sits on a par with Tier 1 cities in the BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China) and all four of the fast-growing MIST economies (Mexico, Indonesia, South Korea and Turkey).
“Dubai has made good progress, recording a 10 per cent improvement in its score over the past two years,” said Craig Plumb, Head of Research, MENA at JLL, “It is positioned in a part of the global ranking which contains some of the most dynamic markets in the world, many of which are seeing growing middle classes mobilizing against corrupt practices.”
The 10 countries identified as ‘Highly Transparent’ by GRETI account for 75 percent of global investment into commercial real estate, highlighting the extent to which transparency drives real estate investment decisions.
A number of key factors are driving progress and frame the broader issues raised by both high and low transparency:
· Capital allocations to real estate are growing. JLL forecasts that within the next decade in excess of US$1 trillion will be targeting the sector, compared to US$700 billion now. This growth means investors are demanding further improvements in real estate transparency, expecting standards in real estate to be on a par with other asset classes.
· There is a growing recognition that transparent real estate practices play a significant role in capital formation, municipal finance, and as a foundation to improve the quality of life in many communities. This foundation includes security of property ownership, safe housing and workplaces and the ability to trust agents to act honestly and professionally.
· Technology is both a driver of the digitisation of all kinds of real estate data and also an enabler in disseminating and analysing this data; improvements in data capture techniques are allowing a more granular and timely assessment of real estate markets.
The Dubai government acknowledges the important role that improving transparency plays in increasing levels of foreign investment in its real estate market. Its new Open Data Law aims to promote the sharing of non-confidential data between government and non-government entities. Real Estate Regulatory Agency (RERA), the regulatory arm of Dubai Land Department, has implemented several new measures to advance the accessibility and quality of real estate data available to potential investors.
“We are pleased that Dubai has recorded an improvement in 15 of the 28 areas covered in JLL’s Global Transparency survey,” said HE Sultan Buti Bin Mejren, Director General of Dubai Land Department (DLD). “We are particularly proud to see that the greatest advancement has been made in the area of market data, where the DLD can make the most direct impact on transparency.”
The report highlights a number of factors which will influence real estate transparency in the next several years:
· As new data capture techniques get adopted, the pressure mounts for real estate to raise the bar and achieve even higher levels of transparency.
· Technology will continue to advance and will allow some countries to leapfrog the traditional route to transparency; we are already seeing this happen in places like Kenya, Ghana and Ecuador.