Nisus Finance on why global investors are turning to UAE real estate

Gulf Business

22-05-2025

Image: Supplied
The UAE's real estate sector is going to see an influx of global private capital, institutional capital, and international family offices and funds as the market matures. With strong regulatory environment that supports international capital to benefit from the opportunities, capital from all over the world is entering the UAE market.
It is expected to see a shift towards digitization with Cryptocurrency, Tokenisation, Virtual Assets, Crowdfunding, Fractional Ownership, among others.
Amit Goenka, Chairman and MD of Nisus Finance, explains why and how this is happening and how the market will benefit from the influx of new capital.
What's driving the growing appeal of real estate funds like yours in 2025 — and how are institutional investors benefiting from the size, speed, and governance advantages they offer over traditional channels?
UAE has historically been seen as a trading hub—and not a permanent economy for international investment directly into capital assets. However, with the extraordinary vision of the Rulers, who have created future ready foundations, we see a paradigm shift.
The UAE is now more of a destination for global capital to invest and benefit from the opportunities thanks to its strong regulatory environment, progressive policies, and supportive ecosystem.
The UAE real estate market comprises almost US$680 billion worth of assets and US$ 207 billion of annual sales today. It is one of the fastest growing real estate markets globally with the highest rental yields, hospitality demand and new emergence of office, healthcare, education, and industrial assets, which are in short supply.
We see that the total amount of funding required each year to continue this pace of growth is in excess of US$100 billion.
Also traditional families are unlocking legacy assets with an estimated USD 8 billion of free hold rented assets available for sale and another USD 6 billion of GCC assets for sale. There is hence a unique opportunity for institutional funds to buy into this USD 14 billion plus basket.
Monies realized from such sales will recycle back into new age asset classes like tokenization and new real estate projects.
So we see this USD 100 billion real estate finance gap and USD 14 billion of asset sales as core value proposition. So, the need for private capital, private credit, and private equity to part-fund or buy into these developments is very critical to continue the current pace of growth.
With NiFCO deploying capital in areas like JVC and Al Furjan, how do you view the long-term investment case for affordable housing in Dubai, and how is this segment evolving?
We have a sharp focus on affordable housing. About 95 percent of the rental demand lies in the affordable housing market which is under short supply.
We have seen nearly 1000 families take up residency each day in Dubai (which makes over 90,000 residencies in the first quarter of 2025) which are prime consumers for mid income and affordable housing The rental growth has surged by over 28% y-o-y and capital value has gone up by over 20% on the back of this influx.
For investment, affordable housing is always a safe bet as demand will continue to be high for affordable housing as over 4 million people are expected to be added to the country's population over the next few years . I don't think the affordable housing segment will have any problem in attracting investment.
The recent announcement of Dubai Residential REIT, GCC's first pure-play listed residential leasing-focused REIT, expected to be the GCC's largest listed REIT, with a gross asset value ('GAV') of AED 21.63 billion, strongly underscores our hypothesis.
The market is in the formation stage for institutional capital of participate in this high growth high yield story.
Locations like Jumeirah Village Circle (JVC) and Al Furjan are the top mid income housing micro markets of Dubai. We continue to focus on such key locations like Arjan, Dubai Silicon Oasis, Barsha, Motor City, Production City, Dubai South etc and GCC locations like Mankhool which are top destinations for mid income executive housing.
With key infrastructure initiatives like Etihad Rail, the Al Makhtoum International Airport, the growth is now south bound. The rental demand in these locations are nearly 5x of supply.
Even after the new under construction projects are delivered, there will be an estimated shortage of nearly 39,000 dwelling units in Dubai basis current demand and much larger with the continued influx. Rents and capital values will hence continue to climb sharply over the next few years, delivering very high yields and appreciation to our portfolio.
How is Nisus Finance incorporating tools like AI, PropTech, or Blockchain into your asset evaluation and management processes — and what impact are you seeing on returns or operational efficiency?
Dubai Land Department (DLD) recently announced a real estate tokenisation pilot project. DLD anticipates that this initiative will drive significant growth in the real estate tokenisation sector, with its market value projected to reach Dh60 billion by 2033, representing 7 percent of Dubai's total real estate transactions.
We obviously want to be part of this tokenisation project. Tokenisation or virtual assets are obviously the future asset class including in real estate. I think the global market itself is likely to triple from US$16 billion to about US$53 billion over the next few years.
So we're definitely seeing a very large explosive opportunity in tokenisation in this part of the world. Regulators like Abu Dhabi Global Markets (ADGM) provide a platform for setting up blockchain-based real estate token platforms, including token markets.
The infrastructure is there but global participation has to deepen. Crowd funding is also growing rapidly with digitization of real estate title deeds and online registrations.
We actively engage proptech into our asset management. Our buildings are fully serviced through tech enablers who provide smart dashboards, predictive demand and supply analysis, tenancy management and instant financing solutions to create a real time vibrant ecosystem of satisfied occupiers.
As investors we benefit from financial savings, high ROI, intelligent MIS and analytics and future proofing our solutions.
From co-living to flexible workspaces, how is the changing lifestyle and work patterns influencing your fund's commercial real estate strategy in Dubai and beyond?
These are new trends that are coming in the market.Lots of developers are incorporating these concepts into their master-planned communities where people would live, work, play and get entertained, without having to leave the community. I'm sure new funds will be made available to spearhead the growth of these sectors.
Student accommodations, shared accommodation for the digital nomads, coders, content creators and the creative communities are also coming up in different parts of the UAE in a big way.
A number of investors, including REITs are investing in these assets.
How is Nisus Finance integrating sustainability metrics and ESG frameworks into your portfolio, particularly in light of Dubai's push toward greener building standards?
Buildings are a large source of emission. Sustainability is very crucial for achieving net zero targets and reducing emissions and we are focusing on sustainable developments for financing – as part of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
However, in order to invest in sustainable assets, we need an influx of more sustainable properties in the country. Currently between 10-15 percent of our investment are into sustainable projects.
We are investing into our assets to make them net zero, employing smart grid solutions, hydroponics, waste management and refurbishing the utilities and common areas to make them aesthetic, value added and SDG compliant.
We have as a fund house always incorporated ESG framework into our investments. Not only are we active within the community of our investments, we pride ourselves on a transparent system for stakeholders, compliance with the highest standards and incorporating IFC EDGE into our developments and assets.
Do you see innovations like REITs and fractional ownership as complementary or competitive to institutional funds like yours — and how might they evolve in the GCC?
As mentioned, Dubai Residential REIT with an estimated AED 21.6 billion in value strongly highlights and underscores our strategy and portfolio built up even while the AED 60 billion tokenization initiative of DLD is underway.
They are both strongly complementary and accelerate the engagement of global investors across socio economic and asset classes.
These are very early stages in a very large market with huge head room for mutual growth. WE are also concurrently seeing crowd funding. NFTs and other digital assets gain strong momentum backed by growing real estate appetite.
What do you believe is underpinning Dubai's sustained appeal as a real estate investment destination — and how is your fund positioning itself to capitalise on this long-term growth story?
The UAE's leaders, through a multi-pronged Vision 2030 road map, are leading from the front to ensure that this country remains at the forefront of sustainability, technology, economic growth and social welfare.
Dubai has created a unique ecosystem for global citizens aspiring for safety, quality of life, education, healthcare, tax friendly environment, ease of living and doing business through a paradigm shift in policies, positioning and value proposition.
Investments are directly into non-oil sectors including renewable and green energy, AI, ML and deep tech, with job creation across manufacturing, logistics, technology, construction, finance, hospitality, tourism and allied services.
The development of infrastructure is keeping the demand of 2050 in mind with automation, access and accountability at the core.
With an estimated population growth of 4 mn over the next few years and almost 1,000 new residents every day, the appeal of real estate is bound to continue leap frogging over a decade and beyond.
We see ourselves uniquely positioned to capitalize on this sustained growth story by pooling global investors and local institutions into a uniquely structured, risk mitigated investment platform within the DIFC, delivering sustained superior yields and capital gains in a diversified core plus asset basket.