Dubai’s Property Market Is Getting a Tech Upgrade

SPEAKER_1 (0:00)

This is the Morning Drive. Dubai's property sector is increasingly turning to AI, to automation and connected platforms to improve how buildings are managed, and also how real estate value is created. And as property technology or PropTech adoption accelerates across the GCC, we're going to look at what's changing on the ground and where tech is really actually delivering results.

Joining us is Fadi Nwilati, who is the CEO of KAIZEN Asset Management Services.

Also, fortuitously, he is the Chairman of the Dubai PropTech Business Council as well. Fadi, it's good to have you here.

Fadi Nwilati (0:41)

Thank you for having me.

SPEAKER_1 (0:42)

You are very welcome. A big broad question to start with for you. It's more than just a catchphrase. So what is, what's driving this push towards PropTech in Dubai, in the UAE right now?

Fadi Nwilati (0:57)

Well, I think Dubai and the UAE have always been at the forefront of innovation and forefront of that on technology. And that's evident with the Dubai government and Dubai Land Department being the first to adopt the blockchain technology. Back when it was a buzzword, Dubai made it actually part of their mainstream processes and part of their business model.

But the reason of the recent shift and the recent push you see in PropTech and the recent attention that finally the PropTech industry has gained is because of the sheer volume of transactions that are happening. In Dubai alone, you have over 3 million real estate transactions that happened in 2025 That includes property sales, lease renewals, lease agreements, new rentals among other transactions. And if you look at UAE as a whole, that number gets pushed to about 5 million transactions per year, 4 to 5 million per year. When you have that many transactions, technology obviously as an enabler and as a tool can significantly help digitize these processes, automate them, and more importantly, unleash a lot of insights coming out of them. So that's one. Two, you also have the real estate strategy that was announced by Dubai Land Department, which is Dubai Real Estate Strategy 2033

That strategy entails 70% increase in real estate transactions. So not only do we have over 3 million transactions today, but transactions are going to increase by about 70% between now and 2033 You've got also the part of Dubai Real Estate Strategy 2033 is that the market will grow to $1 trillion.

Home ownership will grow to 33% and among other factors. So that's the macro, let's say, economical drive that is also driving PropTech. And last but not least, going a bit granular, Sheikh Hamdan al-Rashid, His Highness Sheikh Hamdan al-Rashid al-Maktoum also announced the Dubai PropTech Hub and the Dubai PropTech Agenda for 2030, and this was announced back in 2025 The PropTech Hub and the PropTech plan is to increase PropTech investments from where they are today or the value of the PropTech industry from where it is today at 2.5 billion dirhams to 4.5 billion dirhams by 2030 That will include creating and attracting 200 PropTech startups, and that will include also attracting 20 PropTech investment funds into the region. So when you take all of these factors into play, where Dubai is today, where Dubai Real Estate Strategy is heading in the next seven years, and the Dubai PropTech ecosystem, where it is today and what it's envisioned to do in the next five years, all of these things are really creating value in PropTech and bringing that attention finally to the PropTech industry.

SPEAKER_1 (4:06)

You know, I haven't been talking, but I need to take a breath. There is a lot going on there, isn't there? There really is. So, let me ask you a little bit more about the technology, and the technology of now, I suppose. Artificial intelligence. Lots of talk about AI in real estate for obvious reasons, when you look at just the sheer volume of transactions, of course.

Where are you seeing AI make a real difference in property management today, and where is AI actually creating value?

Fadi Nwilati (4:38)

I mean, we're seeing it across the entire journey and spectrum. We're seeing it from search, when people think about renting or buying a property, and you can see with the recent announcements of the likes of Property Finder and Doobazil, and what they're doing with AI to make that journey smoother, better, easier for the property buyer or property renter. You're also seeing some collaborations now between the likes of Property Finders and HUSPY and the others, whereby they want to make mortgages easier, so also connecting that second part of the journey for a property buyer. Then you look at the next phase of the journey when you finally find the property, and you want to buy or rent that property, that journey in the building can be significantly enhanced with AI, from your inquiry to the way you lease the property or sign a sales agreement, to the way you move in to the property, to the way you then are served when you live in the property, from your payments to your statement of accounts, to raising a maintenance request, to the way maintenance is being dispatched today, and all the way to up until you exit and you decide to resell the property. All across that journey and those touch points, which are over 40 or 50 touch points that a real estate customer goes through, all of these are today being enabled and empowered through AI. When it comes to leasing, we've given some examples. When it comes to maintenance, for example, today you raise a maintenance request on WhatsApp. It gets auto-dispatched through AI agents to the right person within the maintenance company.