British expats are among the leading buyers of homes in Dubai, according to official figures.
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Around 19,000 British buyers spent £1.6 billion on homes in Dubai in 2014, making them the second largest group of foreign purchasers.
Top of the list were wealthy property investors from India who spent £3.2 billion.
Third were investors from Pakistan who bought homes worth £1.3 billion.
Spending on property for all three nationalities was slightly down on the previous year.
The main attraction for British expats buying in Dubai is no tax is charged on rental profits from buy to lets or holiday lets, while no capital gains tax is paid if an investment property is sold at a profit.
An average studio apartment costs around £90,000, while the price doubles for a better location.
One local property price index, issued by Phidar Advisory, suggests property prices are waning in Dubai as demand falls away.
The index suggests apartment sales are down 3.7% and villa sales fell by 2.4% in the first three months of this year.
Australia taxes foreign investors
Buying property in Australia is about to become more expensive for overseas investors as the government has announced plans to change the law to deter foreign investment.
The government claims overseas buyers are pushing up property prices.
Treasurer Joe Hockey expects to raise more than £100 million a year from the new property investment charge.
The fee is likely to add 1% to the price of buying a home worth £500,000.
“The rules are not being changed to stop people investing, but to make sure they keep to laws about where and how much they can spend,” said Hockey.
Home values in Sydney were up 0.3% last month, giving an annual increase of 8.3%, according to statistics issued by property analysts CoreLogic.
Prices were up 7.4% in Melbourne and 5.9% in Brisbane.
Cairo gets new pyramids
Developers in Cairo intend to build two new glass pyramids in the city, according to the government.
The largest will be 200 metres tall with 48 floors. The other will be smaller and narrower with only 10 floors, but on the same site as the larger pyramid.
The pyramids will be mix use – with offices, shops and entertainment zones.
The Egyptian government will underwrite the iconic development by signing up to take several floors for offices.
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