Wealthy buyers increasingly favor Dubai over London for high end property, according to a Bloomberg report that cites a leading estate agent in the British capital.
The agent shared remarks from a conversation with a single, unnamed billionaire buyer. The client is selling a penthouse in Belgravia, a historic district in central London.
“London is over,” the billionaire reportedly told the broker.
The penthouse was valued at £28 million by its owner, a figure the Realtor considers excessive, with estimates closer to £20 million according to the owner, who suggests money itself is not the sole driver of his decisions.
The broker noted that Dubai appealed to the client, in part because the billionaire seeks to minimize taxes. Under British rules, a person with permanent residence abroad may not owe taxes on foreign income in the same way as a resident citizen.
Earlier reporting indicated that Russian investors have shown increasing activity in Bahrain’s real estate market. The market rose threefold in the first quarter of 2023. Properties in the 70 to 100 square meter range, including one-bedroom units near the coastline with direct beach access, could transact around $650,000 per unit at that time, illustrating the global spread of wealth and property interests across borders. [Source attribution required: Bloomberg; market data compiled from financial reporting sources].