Not Dubai anymore. It’s worth investing in real estate here

The Middle Eastern turmoil has had a major impact on the real estate market. Dubai investments are no longer so attractive, and capital likes “attractiveness”, especially when combined with security.

– Investors are increasingly moving away from distant and less predictable markets. The example of Dubai has shown that even with the narrative of a “safe capital investment”, reality can be more variable than it seems – notes Bartosz Dąbrowski, marketing director of EKOPARK, in an interview with “Wprost”.

Polish capital returns to the Vistula?

And not only to the Vistula River, also to the Baltic Sea and, above all, to our home metropolises.

– Capital returns to places where there is greater control and understanding of the market, both operationally and legally. Poland fits into this trend: we have stable demand, growing large cities and limited supply in the best locations – explains Bartosz Dąbrowski.

As he emphasizes, in practice this means a return to the basics: investing in local markets, regulatory predictable and based on real fundamentals.

– In Poland, these are mainly large agglomerations, the premium segment and projects that generate recurring cash flow – he points out.

Will Warsaw replace Dubai?

Can Polish premium real estate replace investments in the Middle East? This is a question many investors ask themselves. According to experts, not entirely.

– Certainly not 1:1, because these are completely different risk and return profiles – says Dąbrowski.

In his opinion, for some investors, especially the more conservative ones, the premium segment in Warsaw, Krakow or Tricity may be a reasonable alternative.

Boom for Spain

However, investors who want to stay on foreign real estate markets are looking particularly eagerly at the Iberian Peninsula.

From January to March 2026, Poles purchased 1,126 properties in Spain, i.e. 12.8 percent. more than a year earlier and nearly 41 percent. more than in 2024 – according to the latest data from the Registradores de España. Thus, Poles moved up to 8th position in the ranking of foreign investors in this country.

– Over the last 10 years, Polish buyers have tripled their share in the real estate market in Spain. In absolute numbers, this means thousands of houses, villas and apartments – over 16.7 thousand. in the last 5 years. Poles’ preferences and motivations for purchasing real estate on the Costa del Sol and in Spain in general are increasingly related to the search for a safe haven – notes Agnieszka Marciniak-Kostrzewa, founder of Agnes Inversiones.

As he emphasizes, due to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, this will probably be even more visible in the coming quarters.

Direction Thailand

Exotic Thailand is also becoming more and more popular among investors. Investors from Germany and Great Britain have been active on the local real estate market for years, and now Poles are also increasingly joining this group.

What attracts buyers is, above all, stable tourist traffic throughout the year, dynamically developing infrastructure and real estate prices, which in many cases remain more competitive than in Europe.

For some Poles, buying an apartment in Thailand is no longer just a luxury whim, but is becoming a real investment alternative to European markets. Some buyers treat such properties as an investment for short-term rental, others see them as a place for work, winter trips or a potential base for their future retirement.