Who Owns Offshore Real Estate? Evidence from Dubai

Annette Alstadsæter (), Matthew Collin (), Bluebery Planterose, Gabriel Zucman and Andreas Økland
Additional contact information
Annette Alstadsæter: NMBU
Matthew Collin: EU Tax Observatory and NMBU
Bluebery Planterose: EU Tax Observatory
Gabriel Zucman: UC Berkeley and EU Tax Observatory

No 1, Working Papers from EU Tax Observatory

Abstract: We use novel leaked microdata to study offshore real estate in Dubai, a fast-growing tax haven. We find that the non-resident ownership share of residential real estate grew from nearly zero in 2005 to 30% ($68 billion) in 2019, a share much larger than other large global cities. We then go on to show that offshore real estate displays a strong gravity relationship and is more frequently owned at the upper end of the wealth distribution. Finally, we document that both tax evasion (with an 80% evasion rate) and sanctions driven capital flight are important motives for owning offshore real estate.

Keywords: Offshore real estate; cross-border investments; tax evasion; foreign wealth; Dubai property market; wealth distribution (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: F23 G15 H26 R32 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 96 pages
Date: 2025-09
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

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Related works:
Working Paper: Who Owns Offshore Real Estate? Evidence from Dubai (2022)
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