The Dubai real estate market is increasingly becoming the ideal choice for ultra-wealthy individuals who are eyeing to have a second home. According to the latest wealth report from Henley & Partners, the emirate now has over 500 centi-millionaire second home-owners.
The investment migration consultancy, whose specialty is residence and citizenship by investment, described a centi-millionaire as someone with $100 million in investable assets.
Dubai’s strong appeal to millionaires
The newest report also highlighted how Dubai real estate came ahead of other notable markets, such as Palm Beach and West Palm Beach in the US, Sydney in Australia, and Nice in France.
Barnaby Crompton, a Dubai-based real estate broker, shared that the emirate “has always been a holiday destination for the wealthy.” He is also a partner in Crompton Saltini Real Estate. His clients include high-net-worth Germans, French, English, and Russians who have been frequently visiting Dubai.
“Over the short term, we have seen an increase in tourists post-Covid, but in the long term Dubai is still a massive draw for the world’s millionaires,” he added.
Additionally, he cited that Dubai is popular among Indians, considering how close India is to the emirate. The flight from Dubai to Delhi only takes about 3.5 hours.
Read: Dubai real estate poised to grow in 2023 amid luxury demand
More ultra-wealthy in the future
According to the report, Dubai is also now home to 210 centi-millionaires and 15 billionaires. They are among the 3 million people currently residing in this part of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). By 2033, the number of centi-millionaires could rise by 78 percent.
As of June of this year, there are 28,420 centi-millionaires around the world. Dubai’s centi-millionaire populace is higher than that of Miami, Moscow, Sydney, and Monaco.
Taimur Khan, head of research at CBRE Middle East, noted that holiday homes have also become an important asset in a wealthy investor’s portfolio.
He expressed, “In the top end of the market we started seeing a few years back that Dubai, particularly the prime and super-prime side of things, was a regular feature in individuals’ global portfolios from Paris to London and New York.”
New rules to boost real estate sector
One major driver behind this development in Dubai’s real estate is its raft of new visa regulations, which encourage people to stay longer and buy properties.
The Golden Visa initiative is among the most important. Introduced in 2019, it offers talented expatriates and investors the opportunity to reside in Dubai for up to 10 years. Apart from that, a five-year multi-entry visa option is also available.
Looking at the whole Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, the super-rich are only becoming richer. A report from Oxfam indicated that their wealth doubled between 2019 and 2022.
This report further revealed that the top 0.05 percent, comprising 106,080 individuals with assets exceeding $5 million, saw a 75 percent increase in their fortunes. It grew from $1.6 trillion in 2019 to $3 trillion by the end of last year.
Billionaires in the region were also found to have acquired more real estate in Dubai in the past three years than in the previous decade.
As the financial capital of the UAE, Dubai is considered one of the most cost-effective luxury real estate markets in the world. This further attracts wealthy individuals to invest in the emirate.
For instance, a $1 million investment could already let a person own a 1,130-square-foot property compared to a 226-square-foot unit they can get in Hong Kong.
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