Top buyers of luxury real estate in Dubai: Chinese and British investors overtake Indians

The Emirati real estate market continues to experience strong international demand from around the world as people seek safe haven, tax efficiency and positive investment returns.

Chinese and British investors have become the top buyers of luxury residential properties in Dubai in 2022, surpassing traditional Indians who have been the main buyers for years. According to global real estate consultancy Knight Frank, Indian investors ranked third among real estate buyers in the emirate last year in the high-segment segment.

Indians, Emiratis and Saudis were the top three investors in the pre-pandemic years of 2018 and 2019. Indian millionaires allocated an average budget of between $10 million and $20 million to purchase a home in Dubai, and 11 out of 15 of them aspire to purchase residential real estate in Dubai. High-income Indian investors expect annual capital growth of 5 to 10 percent, and the most popular place to purchase branded homes in Dubai is Creek Harbour.

Knight Frank's global study covered 183 high net worth individuals (HNWIs), each with net worth in excess of $3 million, excluding the value of their primary home or primary residence, with participation from YouGov.

Dubai's real estate market continues to experience strong international demand from around the world as people seek safe haven, tax efficiency and positive investment returns. The weakening of the rupee against the UAE dirham, which fell from 21.1 last year to 22.6 in May, has forced small and medium-sized Indian investors to slow down, but high net worth individuals continue to invest in the local real estate market for high returns.

At the same time, British investors became more active in investing due to high inflation and political uncertainty in the European country last year. British and other Eastern and Western European investors are looking for places to place their funds and also for high yields.

According to Betterhomes, British nationals also remained the top investors in Dubai in the first quarter of 2023, up 60 percent year-on-year. Other nationalities in the top 10 include citizens from India, Russia, Italy, Lebanon, Egypt, Turkey, France, China and the UAE.