Dubai the most profitable city in the world for Airbnb landlords


Felicity Glover
  • English
  • Arabic

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Dubai is the most profitable and expensive location in the world for Airbnb landlords, particularly for owners of properties near Burj Khalifa, a survey by UK-based landlord insurance company CIA Landlords has found.

Landlords who own properties surrounding the world’s tallest building can earn an average of £930 ($1,150) per night, or £339,450 per year, which means it can take only four months for them to break even on their investment, CIA Landlords said.

“Dubai is the most profitable location for landlords as it takes just four months for them to earn their money back after investing in a property,” CIA Landlords said in the survey, which was based on the price of an average one-bedroom, 450-square-foot apartment and divided by the average Airbnb price for one night.

“The average price to buy an apartment in the city is £112,624, meaning just 121 nights need to be sold for this cost to be earned back. However, this is only a profitable location for landlords who have a property near Burj Khalifa, as those further away rent for just £181 per night.”

The property market in the UAE, the second-biggest Arab economy, has made a strong recovery from the pandemic-driven slowdown as the country’s economy improves on the back of fiscal and monetary measures.

Pent-up demand and improved investor sentiment have also helped to drive property sales, particularly in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, amid the pickup in economic activity.

New initiatives, such as visas for expatriate retirees and the expansion of the 10-year golden visa scheme are expected to support the local market, industry experts say.

The second-most profitable location for Airbnb landlords is Hilo, in Hawaii, where it takes only 200 nights to be sold for owners to make their money back, the survey found.

“With the average cost of buying an apartment here also over half that in Dubai at £51,300, this is a safer investment option for those just beginning their Airbnb journey,” it said.

New York ranked second in the world for the most expensive Airbnbs, with owners of properties near Central Park charging an average of £767 per night, the CIA Landlords survey found.

Edinburgh was in third place, with owners of properties near the city's famous Edinburgh Castle charging £416 a night, followed by homes in the Arc de Triomphe area in Paris at £412 and properties overlooking San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge at £403.

Founded in 2007, Airbnb has grown into a global online marketplace for homestays with more than 6 million active listings worldwide in more than 100,000 cities and towns, the company said on its website.

The total amount earned by Airbnb hosts since 2007 to February this year is more than $150 billion, it said.

Meanwhile, Cuzco, in Peru, is the most unprofitable location for landlords to begin their Airbnb business as it would take more than 13 years, or 4,810 nights, for a landlord to earn their money back, the CIA Landlords survey found.

Beijing in China is the second-most unprofitable city for Airbnb landlords, where it would take 3,771 nights to break even on a one-bedroom property at £172 a night, followed by Nairobi, Kenya, at 3,389 nights at an average cost of £32 a night.

London is the fourth-least profitable location, taking Airbnb landlords more than five-and-a-half years — 2,803 nights — to earn their money back after investing in a property.

“With the average cost of buying a one-bed apartment being £524,088, landlords here would need to charge more to make their money back quicker,” CIA Landlords said.

“While landlords may be sceptical about investing within properties for the purpose of Airbnbs, it is clear that there is a demand for properties in this space and it is a profitable business move.

“It is important, however, that landlords weigh up the pros and cons with investing abroad, especially in countries in other continents where maintaining properties and guests will be harder. If these problems can be overcome, then evidently they will see a healthy return.”

Watch: Lockdown fuels a Dubai property search boom

Name: Brendalle Belaza

From: Crossing Rubber, Philippines

Arrived in the UAE: 2007

Favourite place in Abu Dhabi: NYUAD campus

Favourite photography style: Street photography

Favourite book: Harry Potter

WIDE%20VIEW
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It Was Just an Accident

Director: Jafar Panahi

Stars: Vahid Mobasseri, Mariam Afshari, Ebrahim Azizi, Hadis Pakbaten, Majid Panahi, Mohamad Ali Elyasmehr

Rating: 4/5

While you're here
About RuPay

A homegrown card payment scheme launched by the National Payments Corporation of India and backed by the Reserve Bank of India, the country’s central bank

RuPay process payments between banks and merchants for purchases made with credit or debit cards

It has grown rapidly in India and competes with global payment network firms like MasterCard and Visa.

In India, it can be used at ATMs, for online payments and variations of the card can be used to pay for bus, metro charges, road toll payments

The name blends two words rupee and payment

Some advantages of the network include lower processing fees and transaction costs

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Power: 819hp

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Engine: Electric motor generating 54.2kWh (Cooper SE and Aceman SE), 64.6kW (Countryman All4 SE)
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On sale: Now
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The specs

AT4 Ultimate, as tested

Engine: 6.2-litre V8

Power: 420hp

Torque: 623Nm

Transmission: 10-speed automatic

Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)

On sale: Now

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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
'The Lost Daughter'

Director: Maggie Gyllenhaal

Starring: Olivia Colman, Jessie Buckley, Dakota Johnson

Rating: 4/5

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'Shakuntala Devi'

Starring: Vidya Balan, Sanya Malhotra

Director: Anu Menon

Rating: Three out of five stars

THE BIO

Born: Mukalla, Yemen, 1979

Education: UAE University, Al Ain

Family: Married with two daughters: Asayel, 7, and Sara, 6

Favourite piece of music: Horse Dance by Naseer Shamma

Favourite book: Science and geology

Favourite place to travel to: Washington DC

Best advice you’ve ever been given: If you have a dream, you have to believe it, then you will see it.

Sole survivors
  • Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
  • George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
  • Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
  • Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
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Know your camel milk:
Flavour: Similar to goat’s milk, although less pungent. Vaguely sweet with a subtle, salty aftertaste.
Texture: Smooth and creamy, with a slightly thinner consistency than cow’s milk.
Use it: In your morning coffee, to add flavour to homemade ice cream and milk-heavy desserts, smoothies, spiced camel-milk hot chocolate.
Goes well with: chocolate and caramel, saffron, cardamom and cloves. Also works well with honey and dates.

HAJJAN
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1. Fasting 

2. Prayer 

3. Hajj 

4. Shahada 

5. Zakat 

UPI facts

More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions

Intercontinental Cup

Namibia v UAE Saturday Sep 16-Tuesday Sep 19

Table 1 Ireland, 89 points; 2 Afghanistan, 81; 3 Netherlands, 52; 4 Papua New Guinea, 40; 5 Hong Kong, 39; 6 Scotland, 37; 7 UAE, 27; 8 Namibia, 27

The Perfect Couple

Starring: Nicole Kidman, Liev Schreiber, Jack Reynor

Creator: Jenna Lamia

Rating: 3/5

Essentials

The flights
Whether you trek after mountain gorillas in Rwanda, Uganda or the Congo, the most convenient international airport is in Rwanda’s capital city, Kigali. There are direct flights from Dubai a couple of days a week with RwandAir. Otherwise, an indirect route is available via Nairobi with Kenya Airways. Flydubai flies to Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo, via Entebbe in Uganda. Expect to pay from US$350 (Dh1,286) return, including taxes.
The tours
Superb ape-watching tours that take in all three gorilla countries mentioned above are run by Natural World Safaris. In September, the company will be operating a unique Ugandan ape safari guided by well-known primatologist Ben Garrod.
In the Democratic Republic of Congo, local operator Kivu Travel can organise pretty much any kind of safari throughout the Virunga National Park and elsewhere in eastern Congo.

Updated: May 06, 2022, 7:47 AM`