PHOTO
Russians became one of the top five homebuyers in Dubai in the first half of 2022, according to a new report.
The study by real estate broker Better Homes, which looked at buying trends in the property market, showed that Russian nationals represented the fourth-largest group by nationality, with Indians remaining the largest, followed by UK nationals and Italians. French buyers came in the fifth position, the company’s H1 2022 Dubai Real Estate Market Report showed.
In last year's study, Russians did not feature in the top 10, with the top five made up of India, the UK, Italy, China and France – when UK buyers soared by 600%, as British expats took advantage of low interest rates and growing prices.
Better Homes said that 2022 has seen an increase in migration of Europeans, with the war in Ukraine, domestic tax concerns and an increasingly mobile workforce some of the key reasons for relocating to Dubai.
“For those already living abroad, we have also seen many global expats relocate to Dubai from the Asia Pacific as a result of continuing COVID restrictions,” the report said.
“Chinese buyers continued to drop in our rankings in the face of continued COVID lockdowns and now just made it into the top 10.”
The report showed that investors made up 68% of buyers, with end users making up 32%, up from 58% and 42% in the equivalent period in 2021.
Sales of luxury properties soared, up 169% on H1 2021, with the average selling price up by 98%. There was also an 86% increase in off-plan transactions and a 146% increase in the value transacted, the report concluded.
(Writing by Imogen Lillywhite; editing by Cleofe Maceda)
