Expert talks about high demand of Russians for real estate in the UAE

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) took the first place in the volume of buyer demand for foreign real estate by Russians, the bulk of buyers in 2024 were Russian citizens already living in the UAE or other foreign countries. This was reported to "Izvestia" on December 19 by Evgeny Ratskevich, General Director of the real estate agency Metropolitan Capital Real Estate.

According to him, in 2023 the country was also in the leaders of Russian demand, but then it was Russian residents preparing to move who showed more interest.

Ratskevich said that the first category of buyers are relocants, including doctors, freelancers and entrepreneurs. Their purchase budget usually ranges from $200 thousand to $350 thousand. The second group is investors, which include business owners, top managers and CEOs. Their budgets start from $300-350 thousand, and they often purchase several properties at once. The wealthiest type of Russian buyers - owners of large businesses. They are interested in real estate not so much in income as in aesthetic value. Purchases can be up to $75 million.

At the same time, according to Metropolitan Group, in 2024, the number of transactions in the Russian segment of buyers worth up to 50 million rubles increased by 36%. This is due to the fact that many people settle in the UAE for a long period of time and take mortgage programs. As a rule, this group includes Russian expats working for international companies. Also, Russian buyers have begun to prefer more spacious options.

According to experts' statistics, in 2023, 63.1% of transactions were first-time purchases by Russians, and 36.9% were repeat purchases. In 2024, the ratio became 61.5% and 38.5% respectively. The share of sales to Russian buyers fell over the year from 65.7% to 41.3%, but the total volume of transactions with Russians has not significantly decreased due to the fact that many Russian owners began to reinvest funds received from previous purchases: in 2023, resales accounted for 34.3%, and this year this figure rose sharply to 58.7%. Specialists believe that this change indicates the desire of investors to acquire existing objects with clear liquidity and profitability, and also means a possible decline in interest in projects at the initial stages of construction.

Earlier, November 2, it was reported that when buying housing Russians are primarily focused on its location and only then on the available budget. This is stated in the results of the VTB survey. At the same time, every third Russian considers the most comfortable "young" secondary housing - real estate, which is 3-10 years old. The comfort of new buildings - up to three years from the date of delivery of the house - was noted by 23% of respondents.