Where to invest besides Dubai
Eight markets we have been to with a camera. 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. 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
Oman
The UAE’s neighbour: resort freehold and a residence visa for the owner.
- Role
- UAE satellite
- Ownership
- Freehold only inside tourism zones (ITC)
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
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
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
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
Europe
Bought for status and jurisdiction, not for return.
- Role
- Jurisdiction and residency
- Ownership
- A separate regime in every country
Australia
A predictable legal framework — that does not let foreigners in everywhere.
- Role
- Long horizon
- Ownership
- FIRB approval, generally new-build only
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.