Rent hikes a big concern for UAE expats, survey shows

UAE expats more conscious of rental fluctuations than their peers, according to HSBC survey, but the capital's rental rates show signs of stabilising.

HSBC's survey noted that 58 per cent of respondents consider rental price fluctuations a threat to their financial wealth. Silvia Razgova / The National

Nearly two-thirds of UAE-based expats see rent fluctuations as fundamentally affecting their financial well-being far more than their peers in the region and around the world, according to the findings of a global expat survey from HSBC.

Such concerns may well be eased in the coming months however, with news from the estate agents Asteco that Abu Dhabi apartment and villa rents were largely unchanged during the past quarter, coming on the heels of falling rents in Dubai.

HSBC’s Expat Explorer survey for 2014, published on Wednesday, found that as many as 44 per cent of expatriates living and working in the Middle East said that fluctuations in rental prices pose a risk to their financial well-being, compared with a global average of just 19 per cent.

This trend is most pronounced in the UAE, with 58 per cent of survey respondents saying that rental price fluctuations are a threat to their financial wealth.

“The United Arab Emirates emerges as one of the costlier expat destinations, with more than half saying that they would choose to leave because it is too expensive (60 per cent) or for retirement (23 per cent),” according to HSBC.

“With that in mind, it’s unsurprising that changes in rental price is perceived by expats to pose the biggest risk … to financial well-being and confidence over the next 12 months.”

Similar concerns are shared by expats living and working in Kuwait (51 per cent), Qatar (38 per cent) and Saudi Arabia (32 per cent).

While the UAE ranks as the 15th most popular destination worldwide for expats, it ranks just fourth in the region, behind Bahrain (4th globally), Qatar (13th) and Oman (14th).

HSBC survey respondents ranked Switzerland as the world’s top expat destination for 2014, followed by Singapore and China.

The findings of the survey coincide with news that rents in Abu Dhabi remained relatively stable in the three months to September, with rental fluctuations in the single digits for both villa and apartments in the capital.

Follow The National's Business section on Twitter