The widespread use of US dollars alongside or instead of the local currency for pricing and transactions; common in high-inflation African markets where prime real estate is quoted in dollars.
Related terms
- Expatriate demand
Housing and commercial demand driven by foreign workers, significant in the GCC.
- Expropriation risk
The risk that the state seizes private assets, with or without fair compensation; even the perception of it depresses foreign appetite for land-heavy investmen…
- Freehold zone
A designated area where foreign nationals may own property outright, common in the UAE.
- Frontier market
A market less developed and less liquid than an emerging market, with higher risk and thinner data; much of Sub-Saharan African real estate sits in this catego…
- Giga-project
An exceptionally large, state-backed development, characteristic of Saudi Vision 2030.
- Grey market
Unofficial but not strictly illegal trading channels, including informal currency exchange and off-book property deals; prevalent where formal FX and title sys…
- Inflation hedge
An asset expected to hold value as prices rise; property is widely used as one in Egypt.
- Informality
The prevalence of unrecorded or unregulated activity, common in emerging-market real estate.