Asia's elite are looking towards Dubai's ultra-luxury real estate, and here's why

Across Asia, the luxury property market is losing steam. In Singapore, higher stamp duties and tighter loan limits have curbed appetite at the top end. In China, developer defaults, unfinished projects, and weaker consumer confidence have pushed high-net-worth investors to look elsewhere. The slowdown is rippling outward, and money from Asian real estate investors is finding new ground in Dubai.

According to Savills, Asian investors are driving UAE real estate growth, led by deals in Dubai and Abu Dhabi amid rising demand, wealth inflows, and mega-developments. This pattern Savills describes is echoed in Knight Frank’s latest survey, which quantifies just how much private Asian wealth is now targeting the UAE.

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Knight Frank and YouGov surveyed 387 high-net-worth individuals from India, Saudi Arabia, the UK, and East Asia. On average, respondents have a net worth of $22 million and together plan to invest more than $10 billion in Dubai’s real estate market this year. East Asian buyers are emerging as a powerful force within that group, with 68 per cent identifying the UAE’s residential sector as a key investment priority and 61 per cent naming Dubai as their preferred city for property acquisitions. The findings point to a clear shift of wealth towards the Gulf as investors chase stability and higher returns.

“Asian investment has become a consistent driver of Dubai’s residential market rather than an occasional inflow,” said Will McKintosh, regional partner and head of residential MENA at Knight Frank. “There is sustained intent to keep buying, particularly among East Asian high-net-worth individuals looking ahead to 2025.” China continues to lead that activity, McKintosh said, followed by Hong Kong, Singapore, and India. He added that the influx reflects growing confidence in Dubai as a long-term hub for both wealth preservation and growth.

McKintosh noted that today’s buyers tend to be ultra-wealthy families and seasoned entrepreneurs who are deeply familiar with global luxury markets. Many are working through family offices and private wealth managers, treating real estate acquisitions in Dubai as strategic, cross-border investments.

“There is a short-term response to economic slowdown and policy constraints in some Asian markets,” McKintosh said about the growing confidence in the UAE’s real estate market.

Take mainland China’s luxury market as an example. It dropped by an estimated 18 to 20 per cent last year, wiping out nearly four years of growth, according to Bain & Company. The research firm expects the sector to remain flat through 2025, signaling prolonged uncertainty for domestic luxury spending, which extends into the real estate space. Another major source of capital in the region, Singapore, also showed signs of cooling. Over the summer, experts tracking the market reported a notable slowdown, with new home sales falling to their lowest levels of the year.

In the UAE, McKintosh said completed or newly built homes are the clear preference for 64 per cent of East Asian buyers. “Ultra-prime and lifestyle-led communities with strong amenity offers remain key magnets.” Developers, he said, are responding with more curated environments that offer exclusivity alongside practicality.

One company looking to capitalise on the trend is a boutique Dubai-based real estate firm, Prime Capital. Founder Tahir Majithia said the company has built a pipeline through targeted events and on-the-ground partners in key Asian markets who handle outreach abroad and pass clients on to the Dubai team when they visit. “Asian investors, I would say, are a substantial part of the UAE real estate market,” Majithia, who has been working in real estate for 20 years, said.

For Prime Capital, investors from Asia make up about 40-50 per cent of the business, he said. Majithia said the shift has been building gradually, but in the past five years, he did notice interest from Asian buyers has picked up significantly. He pointed to growing demand from Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia, and Japan, while noting that Indian buyers have long been active in the UAE market due to the country’s large resident population. The push towards Dubai, Majithia explained, is driven by two main factors: diversification and value. Compared to markets like Hong Kong or Singapore, Dubai offers significantly lower price-per-square-foot rates and far more attractive rental yields. That price gap, combined with higher returns, makes the city an appealing option for investors looking to rebalance their portfolios. “If you compare with Hong Kong or Singapore, you find property in Dubai really cheap,” Majithia said.

Also importantly, unlike Singapore, Dubai has no capital gains tax and no restrictions on foreign ownership in designated freehold zones. For ultra-high-net-worth investors, those built-in perks only add to the appeal, especially when it comes to branded residences, waterfront villas, and ultra-prime penthouses.

While prime Singapore properties typically generate rental yields of around 2-3 per cent, Dubai’s prime areas consistently offer yields in the 5-7 per cent range, appealing to investors seeking both lifestyle enhancement and income generation, according to a report by a luxury consultancy, Singapore Luxury Homes.

Most Asian buyers, Majithia explained, are in it for the long-term returns, and they treat Dubai as a solid investment play. But there’s also a growing segment looking at the UAE as a future home base and some are buying second homes. Some Asian investors are planning ahead for their kids or considering a move themselves in the next few years, he said.

At the heart of this shift are firms like Singapore Luxury Homes (SLH), which are turning Asia’s appetite for returns into long-term bets on Dubai’s real estate economy. SLH, which positions itself as a cross-border specialist, is a luxury real estate consultancy firm based in Singapore but active in Dubai’s prime market. The firm focuses on bridging buyers to high-end inventory through on-the-ground advisory, helping clients from all over East Asia navigate the process, line up off-market deals, and move quickly once they’re ready to buy. The consultancy’s client base spans far beyond Singapore, with buyers coming from Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, India, Thailand, but also parts of Europe, including Germany and Switzerland.

Founded by Sunita Gill and her husband Kaizar Karkaria, SLH claims a track record of over 300 transactions totalling more than $2 billion in sales over the past decade, with a sharp focus on properties priced between $3 million and $200 million.

Gill, who has been a regulated broker in Singapore for the last 17 years, said, “High net worth individuals can honestly afford anything.” Her job is to work with investors through their journey and to help them realise their goals, whether it be finding a family home or a new investment opportunity. “Two years ago, when the [Singaporean] government introduced a law of 60 per cent foreign stamp duty in the country, that took a hit for a lot of our foreign investors,” Gill said. “ It definitely has been one of the biggest deterrents to purchases in Singapore. The market has dropped by about 30 per cent.”

Many buyers pivoted towards commercial real estate in Singapore, where stamp duties are significantly lower or don’t apply at all. But commercial spaces didn’t appeal to everyone, Gill said, adding that some saw them as “too transactional” or “impersonal” compared to residential properties. That hesitation, combined with tightening policy at home, pushed SLH’s clientele to start looking more seriously at the Middle East, the closest alternative offering both luxury and investment upside.

SLH is also a partner of the UAE Business Council in Singapore, which has helped the firm build the right connections and deepen its understanding of the Dubai market. Through that support, the firm has been able to guide clients through regulatory processes when purchasing property in the UAE, which Gill said is a key selling point for first-time investors entering the market.

“ We are literally their proxies for what and why they should see certain properties, and we see through all of them before our clients go into the purchase,” Gill said.

She has seen a shift in what clients want. In Singapore, real estate has mostly been about numbers. It’s been about getting the right price, the right address, Gill explained. But post-Covid, buyers are looking for more: space, views, amenities, somewhere they’d actually want to live in during a lockdown. That’s where Dubai delivers, she said. “ Definitely the Middle East has been huge for us... and we continue to see that expansion in the next five years at least,” Gill noted, adding that  last year, 50 per cent of business was in the Middle East, and 50 per cent was at home in Singapore.

“ Both Dubai and Singapore really offer the best in the world at this point,” Gill asserted. She said that for high-net-worth buyers, especially those spending Dh20 million and above, luxury villas remain the top choice. “ Dubai is still about 30 per cent cheaper than Singapore at this point in time.”

Majithia said many Asian investors, or at least his clients, are drawn to off-plan developments for their staggered payment structures, which ease liquidity pressure. Gill echoed that sentiment, noting that she’s seen several entrepreneurs scoop up multiple off-plan units to lease out and generate a second stream of income.

“ There is a huge interest in Palm Jebel Ali. Everybody’s really excited about it. It’s twice the size of the Palm Jumeirah. Its  better and bigger, so that is one place a lot of people are looking at,” Majithia said. Another hotspot drawing investor interest is Dubai South, he said, which is the area set to benefit from the upcoming Al Maktoum International Airport expansion. With the airport expected to become the world’s largest over the next six to eight years, the anticipated economic ripple effect is making Dubai South an increasingly strategic location for buyers looking ahead. But beyond new developments, waterfront properties will always remain among the most sought-after investments in Dubai, and that’s especially true for buyers from Asia, Majithia said.

However, not all purchases are purely an investment play. Roughly 30 per cent of SLH’s recent clients have fully relocated to the UAE with their families — a sign that many aren’t just parking capital in Dubai, they’re planting roots. “There is a strong emphasis on privacy, schools, healthcare, and long-term family establishment,” McKintosh said, explaining why there are more Asian families moving to the UAE.  Purchases are also informed and encouraged by Golden Visa frameworks, he added.

While Dubai is gaining ground, not just as an investment hub for real estate but a new ideal for second or primary homes, Singapore is still seen as a safe haven, thanks to its strong governance and stability, Gill explained. Some Asian buyers remain cautious about the Middle East and are unsure about the region’s property cycles and still view Dubai through the lens of past market volatility, she added. There’s hesitancy, especially among more conservative investors, who worry that the current boom could be shortlived.

“Beyond the five years, I think it will stabilise,” Gill said in terms of the buying rush. She doesn’t believe Dubai will ever fully eclipse Asia’s legacy real estate hubs.

Majithia also believes the trend will eventually plateau. “We might see some sort of correction in certain segments of the property market.”

For now though, demand is evolving but not slowing, Knight Frank’s McKintosh emphasised. Foreign ownership will continue to be good for the UAE’s overall real estate performance, broadening the demand base, while sustaining pricing strength, and encouraging continued development activity, he explained. “For many, Dubai no longer complements Asia, it competes.”