Southeast AsiaKuala Lumpur, Johor and Penang
Malaysia
A bilingual commercial hub with a mixed urban fabric and a long history of regional capital passing through.
Markets
Country and city research.
Organised by region, so markets can be compared on the same questions.
The United States is filed separately, as real estate and as startup ecosystems. Open the United States paths.
The longer Japan study — tourism, property, ten cities and international education — is the library special edition Japan: The World Rediscovers an Island Nation. There is no Japan market hub.
Southeast Asia
Singapore is the usual price reference. Malaysia is three urban economies. Thailand is a capital beside visitor coasts. In the Philippines the city matters more than a national average.
Southeast Asia
Southeast AsiaBangkok, then the coasts
Thailand
A working capital, and coastal cities with their own calendars.
Southeast AsiaMetro Manila and regional centres
Philippines
A young population, with English widely used at work, across an archipelago. Urban demand sits in a few cities. Distance is the constraint everywhere else.
Southeast AsiaCity-state
Singapore
A clear, expensive reference market. Limited land, and prices that show it.
South Asia
India is a continental economy of several city markets. Sri Lanka is a separate island market, and its property question follows the state’s finances.
South AsiaMumbai, Delhi NCR, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai, Pune
India
A continental economy read city by city: services, factories, a consumer market, and a property rule that changes with the state.
South AsiaColombo and southern coasts
Sri Lanka
An Indian Ocean island: Colombo and the south coast are different markets, and both sit closer to the state’s finances than the ASEAN cities do.
Europe & Eurasia
Britain is a deep, taxed, documented market. Georgia is a smaller capital where apartments have been easier to buy and harder to exit.
Europe & EurasiaTbilisi and Batumi
Georgia
A compact capital on a historic crossing, with relatively open property access and a smaller, less liquid market.
Europe & EurasiaLondon, then the other cities
United Kingdom
A deep, documented market, with London attached and with tax and planning rules that are written down.
Middle East
Dubai and Abu Dhabi are different freehold regimes. Sharjah’s foreign route is a usufruct. Oman is a smaller market, where a non-Omani purchase runs through a licensed complex. Egypt uses another statute again.
Middle EastCairo, the new cities, Alexandria, the Red Sea
Egypt
A large domestic economy on the Nile, with a canal between the Mediterranean and the Red Sea.
Middle EastDubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Ras Al Khaimah
United Arab Emirates
International capital, a large expatriate population, and two cities that should not be treated as one product.
Middle EastMuscat and Salalah
Oman
A small sultanate. Foreign ownership is a licensed exception, not a national freehold.
Side by side
The same questions, answered differently.
Open a hub for the full brief. Use this as a starting comparison across the directory.
| Market | How GRIP reads it | What to read first |
|---|---|---|
| Malaysia | A practical, mid-sized regional market. Useful as a base, a comparison point, and a place where lifestyle and capital often share the same address. | Strata versus landed title, state-level rules, and whether a purchase is tied to any residency programme. Those rules change and should be verified independently. |
| Thailand | A capital and several coasts. Tourism is not stated as a rent. | Whether the offer is a condominium freehold or a lease of land, and whether the occupier is a payroll, a guest, or the owner for part of the year. |
| Philippines | A people-rich archipelago. The investment question is almost always a city question, then a building question. | Land versus condo title, building administration, and whether the location has year-round work and services. |
| Singapore | A high-clarity, high-cost reference point. Useful as a comparison even when the purchase is elsewhere. | Additional buyer stamp duties, eligibility rules, and the difference between needing to live here and wanting exposure to the region. |
| India | A continental economy, read city by city. This page is the map. The statute and the macro figures sit on the topic pages. | Which city, whether the question is a company or a building, and the FEMA rule if the buyer lives abroad. |
| Sri Lanka | A market that rewards local knowledge and patience with process. | The national economic context, title process, and whether you need Colombo’s services or a coastal use case. |
| Georgia | A small, relatively open market. Useful as a case study in trade-offs, not as a proxy for ‘Europe’. | Building quality, rental occupancy on the street in question, and how an exit would work. |
| United Kingdom | A mature market. The work is in the details: tenure, tax, and the difference between the capital and the rest. | Stamp duty, leasehold versus freehold, building safety documents, and whether you need London or another city. |
| Egypt | A major domestic market and a strategic location. The work is separating the places. The page does not offer a return. | Which city, whether the contract is registered, which tenancy law applies, and whether Sinai rules are even relevant. |
| United Arab Emirates | A fast, international market. Read the cycle, the building, and the emirate, in that order. | Freehold versus other tenures, developer delivery record, service charges, and whether your use case is Dubai, Abu Dhabi, or neither. |
| Oman | A small market with a narrow foreign-ownership route. Scale and the licence come before the view. | Whether the complex is licensed under the 2006 decree, and whether the plot sits inside a 2018 prohibition. |
Continue with GRIP
Want a market added to the directory?
Write to GRIP with the country or city you want on the research list.