Emirates: Dubai’s high-end real estate property sales almost doubled in March to 84 units sold – worth around 1.7 billion dirhams ($462.8 million) – compared to the previous month.

Regulatory changes in the UAE, as well as an aggressive vaccination drive have attracted rich home buyers – mainly from Europe – to purchase properties in Dubai and take advantage of the city’s well-coordinated response against COVID-19, say brokers.

Top-end residential properties priced at 10 million dirhams or more made up 2.5 percent of all homes sold in Dubai in March, according to real estate intelligence Property Monitor.

“Foreign investor investment is coming back in, particularly over the past couple of months, as a result of the successful vaccine roll-outs, and the safety and security measures,” Dana Salbak, regional head of research at Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL), told Bloomberg TV on Sunday.

Salbak also noted a shift in homebuyer behavior because of the pandemic with villas in especially high demand as buyers sought space after a year of travel restrictions and lockdowns.

Despite the renewed buying interest, a pronounced supply-demand imbalance remains, she said.

Salbak said the UAE could sustain foreign investment interest momentum by creating jobs in sectors other than hospitality and retail sectors.