New | Chinese investors eye real estate in Dubai as China’s property market loses shine
Brokers say annual rental yields in the Middle Eastern hub reach 8 per cent on average, buoyed by strong, stable expatriate demand
Chinese property investors have cast their sights on Dubai as a new investment destination as opportunities in China lose their shine following the recent stock market turbulence.
In Dubai, rental yields for residential properties are 8 per cent on average annually, driven by strong, stable expatriate demand, according to property broker Lisa Luo, who has been based in the city in the United Arab Emirates for eight years.
This compared with yields of just 2 to 3 per cent in China, said Luo, a property consultant at Knight’s Court Real Estate.
“Expatriates make up about 80 per cent of Dubai’s population,” she said. “There is also an increasing number of Chinese companies setting up offices in Dubai, which is boosting the rental demand.”
Luo said an investor could buy a one-bedroom apartment in Dubai for 1.5 million yuan (HK$1.82 million) and collect as much as 150,000 yuan rental income a year, for example. Seeing the opportunity, she said, Chinese investors were increasingly keen to enter the Dubai property market.
