DUBAI (Bloomberg) –- Persian Gulf Arab investors will spend more than $20 billion on international property acquisitions in 2008 as record oil revenue provides surplus cash, according to Jones Lang LaSalle Inc., the world's second-largest commercial real estate broker.

“In 2007, there was about $14.5 billion of direct investment in commercial-grade real estate in the 20 leading cities in the world,” Blair Hagkull, managing director, Middle East and North Africa, for Jones Lang LaSalle, said in a Jan. 13 interview in Dubai that was embargoed until Wednesday.
Persian Gulf investment in foreign property is set to grow 50 percent this year, he said.
“With the credit crunch in other parts of the world and relative liquidity in this area, we forecast for 2008 an almost 50 percent increase in the amount of money to be invested by Persian Gulf investors into the top global markets,” Hagskull said.