Chestertons, an international property agency with a hub in Dubai, said investors from the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region had pumped more than Dh265 million ($72.1 million) into London's real estate market in 2015.

The UK's capital was the most attractive market for Chestertons’ Mena investors, representing more than 70 per cent of their total sales of nearly Dh379 million ($103 million).

“London has long been a favoured destination for investors from the Middle East region; it is a mature, well-regulated market with a solid track record for capital appreciation and many Middle East investors are familiar with London, visiting on a regular basis,” said Declan McNaughton, the managing director UAE, Chestertons Mena.

The global property expert said it had closed UK property sales worth over Dh610 million ($166 million) on behalf of its Middle East investors last year.

Based in its Dubai office, Chestertons has a dedicated team of London property experts, who provide prospective investors with up-to-date market insight and a comprehensive database of investment opportunities.

Investors from Kuwait topped the GCC list, accounting for 21 per cent of total London sales through Chestertons, followed by Saudi Arabia (17 per cent), Qatar (10 per cent), UAE (10 per cent) and Bahrain (7 per cent). The balance of the buyers was made up of nationals from the UK, Switzerland and Iran.

However, it was not all capital outflow from the region; Chestertons’ Dubai office sold properties worth almost Dh232 million ($63 million) in the UAE, with almost 40 per cent of the total sales value coming from Middle Eastern investors.

Emirati investors topped the nationality breakdown accounting for around 25 per cent of investment, with single digit percentage contributions from investors in Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Lebanon. Indian and UK nationals were also prominent nationalities contributing 15 per cent and 10 per cent respectively.

“Our nationality breakdown for UAE sales is more or less in line with the Dubai Land Department’s (DLD) nationality breakdown,” stated McNaughton.            

In the Middle East, Chestertons has grown from a single Abu Dhabi office in 2008, to a network of locations that includes the existing Dubai headquarters, Qatar and presence in three key Saudi Arabian hubs, namely Riyadh, Jeddah and Al Khobar.

“Due to increased investor appetite, our focus moving forward is to enlarge our regional footprint in key locations across the Gulf, starting with the addition of a third Dubai office, located in the Al Barsha area and one in Ajman,” added McNaughton.

Chesterton's expansion strategy focuses on increasing both investor and developer/landlord awareness of and access to a wide-ranging portfolio of services as the market dynamic continues to shift with multiple opportunities across the different vertical asset classes from residential and commercial through to industrial and hotels.

“Naturally with an expanded footprint, increased headcount and a strategy focused on specific vertical sectors of the real estate market, we are confident that our 2016 revenue performance will comfortably exceed the excellent figures we returned in 2015,” he added.-TradeArabia News Service