Expatriates consider property investments back home as coronavirus lockdown underlines importance of family
- Lockdown gives expatriates time to contemplate work-life balance, say agents
- Knight Frank’s survey of agents finds that more than half of their clients are keen on buying a property back home
The Covid-19 pandemic is making expatriates rethink their work-life priorities, with a growing number of executives based abroad looking to buy property in their home countries to be close to family and friends during tough times, say analysts.
A survey of agents carried out by property consultancy Knight Frank found that more than half of their expat clients were seeking property that would provide them with a base back home, one they might consider returning to permanently in the long term. Expats who were farthest from home were the most keen.
Other top reasons for the shift in preferences were better job offers and better health care in their home country.
“Time in lockdown had underlined the importance of family for many and focused their minds on the type of lifestyle they want to lead,” said Victoria Garrett, Knight Frank’s head of residential in Asia-Pacific.
“For expats with older parents back home or children heading to boarding school abroad – and the prospect of a potential eight or 12-hour flight to reach them – the Covid-19 pandemic has meant that many are rethinking their long-term plans.”
