Has Dubai Found The Most Millennial Way To Invest And Live?

Buy a room, invest in a rental, co-own a flat, share a yacht, Dubai is turning the investment world on its axis through the creation of new-era investment opportunities for the burgeoning desires of the new generations.

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Fuelled by a surge of young, tech-savvy Millennials, the city is pioneering an investment landscape that blends financial gain with the luxuries and lifestyles of the social media age.

UAE-based companies moved early and quickly to capture this emerging market. The examples are multiple, each telling of an innovative approach to attract this new segment.

Founded in 2011 to create a ¡®new evolution¡¯ in the luxury yacht sector, Royal Yachts also offers a co-ownership programme for investors looking for the lifestyle without associated costs. Through fractionalised ownership, investors pool their resources into single assets bringing high luxury within reach for emerging entrepreneurs.

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For those who prefer to be more grounded, perhaps real estate offers an interesting alternative.

Another UAE-based company, Stake, is specifically targeting a Millennial generation that have been raised in a world whereby real estate remains the single biggest source of wealth creation, with Rami Tabbara, Co-Founder & Co-CEO, describing the aspiration amongst this generation to own real estate as ¡°vast¡±.

With investments beginning from as little as AED 500, Tabbara says that Millennials represent the largest investor group for the company at around 50% to date.

Accessible through a mobile app, prospective investors are able to ¡®stake¡¯ as little or as much as they choose and are provided data-driven updates and analysis on how their investments are faring. This, Tabbara says, is part of Stake¡¯s mission ¡°to empower everyone to own and build wealth through real estate.¡±

Talking about real estate trends, Tabbara says, ¡°In recent years, Dubai has bucked the global downward trend of real estate and has performed incredibly well as a market versus other global cities such as London and New York. Coupled with extensive initiatives to attract tourism and population growth, Dubai continues to prove to the world why it¡¯s one of the most desirable and important cities in the world.¡±

ESG-powered choices

Companies with global aspirations are increasingly having to consider key environmental, social, and governance (ESG) requirements as a pillar of business responsibility and to attract socially conscious investors.

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Madhav Dhar ¨C Co-founder and COO, Z¨¡ZEN Properties, says that 80% of investors in the UAE¡¯s real estate sector are now prioritising sustainability, a high number compared to other countries in the region. Millennials, in particular, have been the main group of home buyers in the UAE since 2010.

¡°With the UAE¡¯s property market being one of the country¡¯s strongest sectors and generating approximately 5.5% of the nation¡¯s overall GDP, a focus on creating sustainable developments provides immense potential with younger generations placing a greater importance on being environmentally friendly,¡± Dhar says.

Additionally, according to Dhar, though Gen Z (individuals who were born between the late 1990s to early 2010s) are expected to surpass Millennials in the coming years, Millennials will continue playing a key role in the country¡¯s real estate success, especially when considering global data that says 90% of these demographics are making an active effort to reduce their environmental impact. The appetite for sustainable residential real estate is growing.

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This appetite is driven by the country¡¯s green initiatives including the Dubai 2040 Urban Masterplan and UAE Net Zero 2050, among others, says Dhar, adding that the recently announced spate of environmental projects and initiatives in the lead-up to COP28 reinforce the importance of a sustainable future.

¡°This annual gathering, which is being hosted in the UAE for the first time, will accordingly help to raise awareness of the need to combat climate change; this not only aligns with global sustainable goals but also the values of Millennials and Gen Z, two demographics who will continue accounting for a large majority of real estate investments in the years to come,¡± Dhar says.

Dubai¡¯s approach to the sharing economy wave is designed to maximise the investment potential of the two generations through which the world¡¯s resources will be held in the years to come.