Home buyers in the Middle East are looking to settle in rural areas and possess bigger homes than they have at present. This conclusion was drawn in a new survey by the global consultancy firm Knight Frank.
“The pandemic has fuelled aspirations for bigger homes, much like the respondents from elsewhere in the world,” the firm’s Head of Middle East research Faisal Durrani said, adding the pandemic has affected home buyers’ attitudes in recent months.
Nearly 57 percent of respondents in the region said they would be most likely to buy a villa, or a home in a more rural location for their next purchase, slightly higher than the rest of the world’s respondents.
“In markets like Dubai, we’re already seeing villa demand driving faster price growth for villas than apartments. Indeed, villa values in Dubai have climbed by 7.8 percent since Q1 2020, compared to a 5.9 percent fall for apartments,” Durrani explained.
The survey also found sustainability to be an important factor for home buyers in the region than elsewhere globally.
Durrani said half of the respondents cited the energy efficiency of their home being a “very important” issue, compared to only 42 percent of global buyers. “This should send a very strong signal to developers and planners around the region about how important ‘being greener’ will be in driving the success of new projects,” he added.