Skip to content Skip to Search
Skip navigation

Norwegians return to Dubai commercial property sector

By Shane McGinley
The Jumeirah Lake Towers area is proving popular with Norwegian investors looking for commercial property Dubai Tourism
The Jumeirah Lake Towers area is proving popular with Norwegian investors looking for commercial property
  • Indian buyers top list but Norwegians move into second place
  • First purchases of commercial space by Norwegians since 2019
  • Norway’s sovereign wealth fund not involved in latest Dubai deals

Norwegian investors were the second-largest group active in Dubai’s commercial real estate in the second quarter of the year, marking a dramatic return after being largely absent since before the Covid-19 pandemic.

The number of sales transactions in Dubai’s commercial sector reached 3,080 in the second quarter of 2023, a year-on-year increase of 22 percent, according to the latest report from CRC (Commercial Real Estate Consultants), an affiliate of Dubai real estate conglomerate Betterhomes. 

In dirham terms, the value of deals made rose 101 percent to reach AED 21.4 billion ($5.8 billion).

There was a 49 percent rise in the number of office space deals in the second quarter. The most popular locations proved to be Business Bay, Jumeirah Lake Towers, Jumeirah Village Circle, Barsha Heights and Dubai Silicon Oasis.

Sales of retail units rose 50 percent, and the overall value of deals rose 94 percent across the same period.

Similarly to the residential sector, Indian buyers were the most active in the commercial sector, but Norwegian buyers have made a strong return to the market in second place, followed by British and French buyers, with Russians rounding out the top five.

“This is the first time we have had Norwegian buyers since 2019,” Behnam Bargh, director at CRC, told AGBI.

“We had a couple of Norwegian investors who bought full floor office spaces consisting of multiple units,” he said, adding that this was mainly in the popular Jumeirah Lake Towers area.

Norway’s $1.3 trillion sovereign wealth fund – Norges Bank Investment Management – is the largest in the world but CRC confirmed it was not behind any of the latest Dubai deals.

Latest articles

STC wants to consolidate the mobile tower market

STC approves PIF purchase of telecom company

Shareholders of Saudi telecom giant STC have approved plans to create a new telecommunications infrastructure company in which the Public Investment Fund will have a 51 percent stake valued at SAR8.7 billion ($2.3 billion).  Under the deal, the STC-owned Telecommunication Towers Co. Limited (Tawal) will become a PIF subsidiary through a merger with Golden Lattice […]

Flavio Cattaneo of Enel, of which Endesa is a subsidiary, and Mohamed Jameel Al Ramahi at the signing of the deal

Masdar buys stake in Spanish utilities company Endesa

The UAE’s state-owned clean energy company Masdar has agreed to acquire a minority stake in Spanish electric utility business Endesa to partner for 2.5 gigawatts (GW) of renewable energy assets in Spain. Under the agreement, subject to regulatory approval, Masdar will invest nearly $890 million to acquire a 49.99 percent stake in Endesa, with an […]

UAE markets Hong Kong

UAE capital markets partner with Hong Kong exchange

The Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKSE) has added the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX) and the Dubai Financial Market (DFM) to its roster of recognised marketplaces. The move opens the door for UAE-based companies to pursue secondary listings on one of Asia’s premier financial markets. It also follows the inclusion of the Saudi Exchange (Tadawul) […]

Person, Worker, Adult

Aramco and PIF invest in Saudi-Chinese steel venture

Saudi Aramco and the Public Investment Fund have doubled their investment in a steel plate joint venture with a Chinese company to $500 million. The two Saudi companies each own 25 percent shares in the new venture in Ras Al Khair industrial city, Bloomberg reported, quoting a statement published on the Chinese stock exchange. Chinese […]