Dubai has become the best destination for digital nomads, according to an annual study by property consultancy Savills. The city in the United Arab Emirates managed to overtake Lisbon, last year's leader in the ranking, which has since fallen to 5th place. Access to housing in the Portuguese capital may be driving away remote workers.
The Savills study evaluated 20 residential markets, considering the five most relevant categories for remote workers: internet speed, quality of life, air connections and prime rents.
According to Bloomberg, as rental prices rise in digital nomad hotspots, access to housing in prime properties has become a crucial factor when deciding where to move next. And Lisbon, which was top of the table, fell to 5th place as rents soared in the city.
"As we know, the Lisbon property market is at a stage where demand is outstripping supply. In the case of the rental market, this situation is even more visible and could have a negative impact on the demand for mid-market rentals. Even so, Lisbon remains one of the world's most appealing and attractive cities for digital nomads," said Miguel Lacerda, Lisbon Residential Director of Savills Portugal, in a statement sent to idealista/news.
Dubai is now the destination of choice for nomads, followed by Malaga, Miami and Abu Dhabi. The Algarve appears in 9th place in the table (in 2022 it was in 4th position), ahead of the Cayman Islands, the Côte d'Azur or the Bahamas, but behind Barcelona or Palma de Mallorca.
"Dubai's fast-growing fintech and financial services sectors, along with a tax-free and high quality of life, are very appealing factors for digital nomads," comments Swapnil Pillai, Associate Director at Savills Middle East Research.
According to the publication, these sectors are attracting many senior hybrid workers, some of whom have been impacted by recent job cuts in this industry on a global scale. "Many have been impacted by redundancies in global technology companies," he added.
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