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This paper aims to investigate perceptions of United Arab Emirates (UAE) real estate investors’ behaviour and the factors that most influence their investment decisions.

This study used a modified questionnaire that was divided into two parts. The first part covered demographic and socioeconomic variables. The second part identified 36 factors that affect the perceptions of real estate investors in the UAE regarding their investment decisions. These factors were placed in eight different categories that correspond to non-personal factors such as, profit, market conditions, risk, transparency, credit facilities (loans), infrastructure and services.

The findings confirm that there is a significant and positive relationship between three factors; namely, profitability, risk and service quality regarding investments in the real estate sector. The findings also confirm a positive but statistically insignificant relationship between transparency, market conditions, credit facilities, infrastructure and investment in the UAE’s real estate sector.

The sample size represents one of the limitations of this study. In addition, the gender of the sample is another limitation as, in general, men are more involved in investment than women are. Furthermore, there are no previous studies regarding the behaviour of UAE real estate investors; thus, the findings of this study cannot be directly compared with other empirical studies.

It might be helpful to create separate units under the name “Real Estate Information Unit” in every municipality of each of the seven emirates. In addition, it is recommended that decision makers should consider ensuring that modern high-quality real estate infrastructure is available to attract more investors. Finally, minimizing any restrictions on access financing facilities may encourage investors to invest more in the UAE real estate sector.

This study is the first of its kind to be conducted in the context of the behaviour of UAE real estate investors.

The purpose of this study is to examine the perception of UAE investors regarding their investment preference of Sukuk versus conventional bonds.

A modified questionnaire was used in this study with the objective of answering the research questions and testing the developed hypothesis. The survey was conducted on a sample of investors of the UAE Dubai Financial Market, which is one of the main exchanges where Sukuk are traded.

The results indicate that Sukuk features (characteristics) represent the most important influencing factor in the willingness of UAE investors to invest in Islamic Sukuk, followed by the religious factor, as strongly predicted, followed by the expected return and followed by the availability of information. Finally, the results indicate that there is no significant difference in investment in Sukuk among UAE investors based on investors’ gender.

The current study is considered the first of its kind conducted on the UAE. As far as the authors know, there are no studies that focus specifically on social and economic factors that affect the propensity of investors to trade in Sukuk.