Where to invest besides Dubai
16 markets we are asked about most. For each one: what a foreign buyer may legally own, what job the market does in a portfolio, and the caveat that decides whether it belongs there at all. Where we have filmed ourselves the page carries its own rail; where we have not, it carries the rules — and we will not pass one off as the other. Dubai is the benchmark the rest are measured against, not one option among equals.
United Arab Emirates
The core: the deepest and the most verifiable market in the region.
- Role
- Portfolio core
- Ownership
- Freehold within designated zones
- Our coverage
- 5 videos · 4 write-ups
Oman
The UAE’s neighbour: resort freehold and a residence visa for the owner.
- Role
- UAE satellite
- Ownership
- Freehold only inside tourism zones (ITC)
- Our coverage
- 1 video · 2 write-ups
Qatar
Freehold only inside the listed zones; everything else is a 99-year lease.
- Role
- The Gulf, but not Dubai
- Ownership
- Freehold in nine zones, 99-year usufruct in sixteen more
- Our coverage
- 2 write-ups
Saudi Arabia
The Gulf’s largest market is opening to foreign buyers — zone by zone, under new rules.
- Role
- Early entry, long horizon
- Ownership
- Foreign ownership inside zones set by the regulator
- Our coverage
- 3 videos
Cyprus
Not one market but several scenarios: the sea in Limassol, the capital in Nicosia, branded residences on the front line.
- Role
- Coastal living and relocation
- Ownership
- Buying in the south: Republic of Cyprus, an EU member state
- Our coverage
- 4 write-ups
Turkey
Almost any foreigner may buy — the difficulty starts after the purchase.
- Role
- Fast entry and status
- Ownership
- Freehold with no nationality restriction, outside military zones
- Our coverage
- 2 write-ups
Greece
The golden-visa threshold now depends on where exactly you buy.
- Role
- Status inside the EU
- Ownership
- No nationality restriction, apart from border zones
- Our coverage
- 2 write-ups
Spain
Anyone may buy; the status that used to come with it is gone.
- Role
- Living and letting, not status
- Ownership
- No nationality restriction; an NIE is required
Montenegro
A person buys the flat; a company buys the land.
- Role
- Europe close by, a soft entry
- Ownership
- Flats in a personal name; land through a local company
- Our coverage
- 2 write-ups
Bali, Indonesia
Strong short-let returns — and no freehold for a foreigner, at all.
- Role
- An operating business
- Ownership
- Right of use or lease only; freehold is unavailable
- Our coverage
- 1 video · 2 write-ups
Thailand
An apartment, yes. Land, no. That rule decides everything else.
- Role
- Resort letting and wintering
- Ownership
- Condominium freehold within the building’s 49% foreign quota; no land
- Our coverage
- 2 write-ups
Georgia
The lowest entry threshold on the list and the simplest transaction for a foreigner.
- Role
- Cheap entry
- Ownership
- Apartments — no restrictions on foreign buyers
- Our coverage
- 1 video
Switzerland
A market closed to foreigners with one clear way in — designated resort zones.
- Role
- Capital preservation
- Ownership
- Lex Koller: resort zones by quota, or with a residence permit
- Our coverage
- 1 video · 2 write-ups
Europe
Bought for status and jurisdiction, not for return.
- Role
- Jurisdiction and residency
- Ownership
- A separate regime in every country
- Our coverage
- 9 write-ups
United Kingdom
Any foreigner may buy — the question is what is actually being sold.
- Role
- Jurisdiction and education
- Ownership
- No nationality restriction; flats are leasehold for a term
- Our coverage
- 2 write-ups
Australia
A predictable legal framework — that does not let foreigners in everywhere.
- Role
- Long horizon
- Ownership
- FIRB approval, generally new-build only
- Our coverage
- 1 write-up
How to read this section
There are no prices, yields or payback periods here, and that is deliberate. For Dubai and Abu Dhabi we compute figures from our own live stock and publish them on the area pages. For everywhere else we hold no such data, and dressing a third-party market summary as our own analysis is not something we do. What is here instead is ownership law and market structure — the part that legislators change, not quotes, and that does not go stale in a quarter. Numbers live in the videos, where they carry a date.
The first question about any foreign property is not price but whether you are allowed to own it. On Bali a foreigner cannot hold land at all; in Oman only inside a tourism complex; in Switzerland only by quota or with a residence permit; in Australia generally only new-build and only with approval. That single question removes a large part of most markets before price is ever discussed.
The second question is the exit. A high yield in a thin market is, in plain terms, compensation for the months it will take to sell. That trade-off is the honest way to compare anything on this page against Dubai.
Not sure which market fits the task
Tell me the budget, the horizon and what the purchase is actually for — income, residency, a place to live, or moving capital. I will tell you which of these markets answers it, and which of them I would leave alone.
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