Here Are The Best Countries To Move Abroad To According To Experts

published 13 December 2018

Ever fancied emigrating to Dubai?

Anyone saving for a deposit in the UK knows what a slog it can be - hopeful first-time buyers can wave goodbye to spontaneous weekends away, start inviting friends round for dinner rather than out, and star questioning whether they really need that weekly Friday night takeaway. The UK's housing crisis is one that just doesn't seem to be going away, with reports stating that it takes 22 years on average to save a deposit for a home, and that many millennials have given up on becoming home-owners altogether.

Yet if you've ever fancied a move abroad your luck may be in. Thanks to economic trends and government policies, not every country is going through quite the same housing crisis. MoveHub, UK experts in international relocation compared salary progression and property prices in 33 countries in 2016, in order to find out the best places for first-time buyers to move abroad. And the undisputed winner?

UAE

That's right, the United Arab Emirates, home of Dubai, Abu Dhabi and the world's only seven-star hotel, took the top spot thanks to a boost in wages, combined with a slump in property value of -7.96%. This was followed by Spain (2nd ) and Greece (3rd), both of which have had their fair share of economic woes in recent years.

The UK was not featured in the top five (shocker), coming in at a rather woeful number 16 after house prices rose by an average of 5.7% last year, while wages increased by a paltry 2.3%.

Singapore

A long-time favourite with ex pats, came in at a respectable number four, largely thanks to government intervention to slow down soaring house prices (despite the country seeing salaries rise by 3.7%).

Harriet Cann, head researcher at MoveHub stated: 'In general our research shows house prices going up and wages stagnating. Yet in Singapore where a government has intervened, the gap has narrowed, meaning there are steps that can be taken to curb this disparity.'

Erm...UK government please take note.

Turkey however fared even worse than the UK, with property prices growing by 16% whilst salaries rose by just 0.6%. Its location as a strategic 'bridge' between East and West makes it a prime location for foreign investors, which is driving property prices sky high.