Asia has long been an attractive region for expats. Many North American and European college grads decide to live abroad for a few years to teach English or start their careers in a place which values their education. It also used to be a region which was more affordable, however that may be changing as expat costs are rising across the continent. Why? Chinese investors.
Uoolu, a platform for cross-border real estate transactions in China, recently released documented how Chinese real estate investors are pushing up housing prices, and therefore other costs, across the region.
In the report, Uoolu selected eight countries in Southeast Asia and two countries in the Middle East along the Belt and Road based on the Cooperative Development Index to assess the investment risk in the Belt and Road Initiative region.
The ten countries were ranked by different criteria such as housing price growth rate and price-to-rent ratio. The data highlights the significant and accessible property markets of the region and reveals that Thailand, the Philippines, the United Arab Emirates, and Vietnam are the major markets today that receive the most attention from Chinese investors. Coincidentally these are some of the most popular countries for expats.
