Dubai’s property market is experimenting with a new model that could significantly increase the number of investors and the amount of capital flowing into the emirate’s real estate sector.  

Instead of buying whole homes or villas, investors can now buy fractional digital shares of property using blockchain-based tokenisation. Units are sold for as little as about $545, which is a dramatic drop from the millions usually required to own a luxury home in Dubai. 

Kashif Ansari, co-founder and group CEO of Juwai IQI, says Dubai’s push here signals ambition to lead globally by broadening access to property investment. But he stresses that the model’s success hinges on three pillars: a steady supply of tokenised assets, expanded participation for foreign investors, and development of a truly active secondary market where shares trade continuously. 

Top regional media covered Kashif’s thoughts on this theme, including Gulf Today and London Stock Exchange Group-owned Zawya. 

From Kashif’s vantage point, tokenisation won’t replace traditional property demand. Instead, he sees it as complementary. It will expand the pool of capital without displacing institutional buyers.  

He points to China’s investor base as an example. Only a small fraction of Chinese can afford to purchase full properties in Dubai, but the population that could purchase tokenized shares is some 15-times larger.