Glossary & framework library

Expatriate demand

Emerging Markets

Reference

Housing and commercial demand driven by foreign workers, significant in the GCC.

Related terms

  • 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.

  • Institutional quality

    The strength and reliability of a country's legal, regulatory, and governance systems; weak institutions raise transaction risk and are the deepest driver of e…