Dubai Preferred Investment Location For Saudi Home Buyers
Beyond Saudi Arabia, Dubai is the most preferred potential target city for the kingdom’s HNWI’s to buy a home.The findings were released by way of Knight Frank’s annual 2022 Saudi Residential Survey carried out in partnership with YouGov. The annual survey spoke to 55 HNWIs in Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam. Sixty-five per cent of those surveyed named Dubai as a place they would like to buy a home. Nineteen per cent said they would potentially spend up to $500,000, while a further 25 per cent would commit up to $1m. Twenty-five per cent are ready to spend between $1-3m. When it comes to property preferences, HNWI in the kingdom prefer villas (50 per cent) to apartments (43 per cent) for their next acquisition, according to Knight Frank. “The preference for villas over apartments amongst the kingdom’s wealthy does not come as a surprise. What is interesting is how this demand varies by net worth. Fifty-seven per cent of those with a net worth of over $1m, excluding their primary residence, are in favour of villas. Those with a net worth of $500,000-$1m, however, are slightly more interested in apartments at 47 per cent, compared to villas. What’s more, this is group is also twice as likely (11 per cent) to be interested in branded residences,” said Faisal Durrani, partner – head of Middle East Research, Knight Frank. Apart from surveying the HNWIs, Knight Frank also surveyed 1,003 Saudi national households around the cities of Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam and found that 44 per cent of homeowners in the kingdom are looking for a second home for personal use. Knight Frank’s survey also shows that second home budgets are lowest in Riyadh, with 22 per cent of respondents in the capital willing to spend over $800,000, while this figure is much higher in both Dammam (28 per cent) and Jeddah (45 per cent). Knight Frank’s survey also investigated the homeownership aspirations of the Kingdom’s residential tenants. The survey has revealed that 84 per cent of tenants want to buy their first home within the next 12-months. Knight Frank noted that apartment prices have risen 14.4 per cent in Riyadh since 2019. Average two bedroom apartments in Riyadh, of a good quality sell for over SAR750,000, while three- or four-bedroom villas usually sell for in excess of SAR2.3m. Knight Frank adds that 80 per cent of Saudi tenants will be looking to buy their first home within the kingdom.
Tags : Dubai Investment Saudi Home Buyers Faisal Durrani partner – head of Middle East Research Knight Frank Riyadh Jeddah and Dammam