Dubai vs California Real Estate: Which Market Actually Wins For Investors In 2026?

I've been looking and studying and hearing from your podcast, which I love by the way. Everybody should be listening to your podcast. The country is still growing. The city is spectacular. What is it? Why am I so attracted? This is not just a city. It's not just a country. It's global. It's huge and it oozes luxury. Do you think that there's going to be units for you in 2 months? Yeah, try 2 hours. Dubai's population just hit 4 million. They're growing at a rate of 200,000 new residents a year. You have economic opportunity, job growth, multinational, safety. You have businesses, as you said, a global hub that are setting up their headquarters, including American companies. Here in Dubai, I don't see it as emotional. This is strictly investment purposes and growth. There are a couple hundred units coming up at a launch time, especially in the desirable top-tier areas. So yes, you do need somebody boots on the ground. I needed to come and feel this to be able to sell it and to feel. I know the misconception about Dubai, the Middle East, but that's not here. In this episode of The Dubai Connect podcast, I'm bringing an American real estate agent to Dubai for her first time, so that she can actually see with her own eyes what's happening here and we can get her reaction to the prices, the lifestyle, and what a lot of Americans don't believe me on: how fast projects sell out. This is going to shock you. In fact, she's been selling real estate in coastal California for over 20 years, dealing with local buyers and unfortunately recently slow sales cycles. But when she sees the entire Dubai and the towers that are selling out on launch day with buyers flying in from all around the world and discovers that you can buy a luxury apartment here for much less than what a basic condo costs in La Jolla, Coronado, Del Mar, and other coastal San Diego cities, everything that she thought she knew about real estate gets turned upside down. We're going to do a side-by-side comparison of purchasing property in California versus Dubai, some of the differences, and we've been driving around. I've been showing her actual developments, discussing the prices here, the lifestyle differences. We're going to break down why global investors are flooding into Dubai while Trump's new policies are actually making it harder for some of these global investors to purchase property in the United States. You're going to hear her unfiltered thoughts, her biggest misconceptions broken, and what she wishes Americans knew about this market here in Dubai. By the end of this episode, you will understand exactly why Dubai is pulling capital away from traditional markets like the United States, why projects here sell out in hours instead of months, and whether the hype actually matches the reality. If you're comparing markets, or wondering where to invest your money right now, this comparison could completely shift your strategy. Welcome back to The Dubai Connect podcast. Welcome, Betty. Hi, GG. Betty, you and I have known each other for how many years? Over 25 years. Yeah, long time. And you are one of the top real estate agents in La Jolla, which is the jewel. Is it the jewel of California or jewel of the United States, would you say? I would say jewel of the United States, for sure. So, if anyone doesn't know, La Jolla is in Southern California on the coast, touches Del Mar and Solana. Of course, Coronado's there. And we, I mean, you love living there, don't you? Of course. How would you not? Right? I mean, you've been there. You walk around there. How could you not? La Jolla has a very special place in my heart and yours. It's the only place you've lived in San Diego. It is absolutely the only place I've lived and probably the only place I would live in San Diego, absolutely. La Jolla has a very special place for many personal reasons. I attended UCSD. My first real job was right on Prospect at La Jolla Mesa. I can't believe you did. I met some of my best friends, including your husband, in La Jolla, who became like a brother to me. God rest his soul. I met you in La Jolla. I lived in La Jolla for several years and I'm back to living there right now and there's just something so incredibly beautiful. It's a magical place. It's really a magical place. It took me time to feel that space coming from a city and being a city girl to come into a beach town and be at a small scale. For me, it took some time to adjust. And as you saw the town grow, because 25 years ago when I got there and what it is today is huge. Like, we have actual traffic now going into the village. You see it. There was a big growth also took a big chunk out of the serenity and peaceful nature of La Jolla. But it has I could definitely tell now why people want a piece of La Jolla, which I didn't understand when I first got there. Well, you have the shops. You're on the coast. The best weather probably in the entire world. Yeah, I would say yes. The ocean is gorgeous. The homes on the cliffs overlooking the ocean. We're surrounded by water. So everywhere and anywhere you drive, you see the beautiful coast and you see the water coming from all angles. And there are incredible schools in La Jolla. It's not just universities. The schools are there. Yeah. And some of the most expensive homes in the world. In fact, you just sold a home. How much was it? 6.5 million. Yes. Yeah. So then why are you here visiting me in Dubai? Great question. I've been wanting to be here for a while. I've been looking and studying and hearing from your podcast, which I love, by the way. Everybody should be listening to your podcast. They're very informative. And you're very to the point. And the growth that you've come from when you started 3 years ago and what you are now shows that. Thank you. And it's really important for people to watch it, especially if they're trying to come into this market. You hit all key aspects of why you should be investing here. And that is actually why I'm here. Because I have investors and my business runs on investors. 90% of the clients that I work with are investors. They're not end users. They buy, but they buy exclusively to either hold or to do Airbnb or to do long-term. And eventually they'll sell it and buy something else. But technically 90% are investors and we have pretty much tapped out the margin that they were accustomed to. So I kind of started branching out. I started doing Europe. I did the golden visas of Spain, the golden visas of Portugal. Those doors are shut now. So, where do we go? Where do we go? And my perspective is I can't sell something to my clients that I don't understand. And as a fiduciary responsibility to my clients, I have to understand it to sell it. I can't just say, "Okay, now we have to go here and this is why." No. So I love the fact that you are here physically because I would, if anything, you would be my trusting partner. It would be with you that I would do all this with. And so I wanted to come and tour and get an idea and a perspective of what's happening here. And I have to say that I still can't find the words because I am like. Everything that I've seen so far, even like on our drives, to see Emaar. Emaar is everywhere. It's incredible what they've grown and their name is on every building. You can tell you're driving and there is something being built up. The country is still growing. The city is spectacular. And it dawned on me last night after you left the hotel. I was sitting there thinking, "What is it? Why am I so attracted to this place?" And it's like it's a hub. It's a global, global hub. This is not just a city. It's not just a country. It's global. It's huge. So I started kind of researching and it's like there are 200 different nationalities actually living in Dubai. Peacefully. Peacefully. The country is clean, safe, and it oozes luxury. You kind of walk into it and you feel like okay, you walked into a different class and a different area. But on top of that, you walk in and your standards change. You shift, your brain shifts, and you grasp what's happening here. God, you're stating this all so beautifully and I'm having déjà vu because how passionately you're speaking, this is why I actually changed the trajectory of my entire career and life. I had my own public relations firm for 20 years successfully in the US, but after my first visit, this is how I was feeling. Yeah, I'm high. I'm really like I can't come down. I'm up here. And I'm trying to figure out is it just something in me because I've been so excited to come or is it really that intense? No, it is really that intense. Just look at the numbers, baby. I mean we went to a showroom yesterday where I met you. That was at Nakheel showroom. Nakheel. Yeah, Nakheel showroom. And just looking at the people and the vibe in that showroom explains everything that you've always told me. But if you're not on the ball here, you're not going to get anything. You think that there's going to be units for you in 2 months? Yeah, try 2 hours. Forget it. Minutes are gone. They're gone. Agents like you are sitting in these showrooms waiting for units to be given away so they could sell it. You cannot penetrate this market. You actually need somebody here, boots on ground. Because from the US, we can't sell our clients. We actually need representation here. Thank you for saying that, Betty, because you know there are over 30,000 registered RERA agents here in Dubai. There are probably another 20,000 that are performing illegally and they're not allowed to without a license. There are a couple hundred units coming up at a launch time, especially in the desirable top tier areas. So yes, you do need somebody boots on the ground. And I'm glad that you're seeing it from that perspective because I do, and this is sometimes a little bit frustrating to me. I have agents in America that now think Dubai is a cool place to sell. So, hey GG, I want to get on a call and I want you to mentor me. They're living in San Diego or LA or Miami. Can you just tell me the top five projects? But Betty, what were we talking about when you said well, who, what are the top five projects? It doesn't matter what I tell you today. It doesn't. Absolutely not. Because? Because anything that's going to go to market is going to go. It's gone. There are millions of people that are trying to penetrate this market. And if you're not connected to the right people, you're not going to get it. And if you get anything, it ain't. It's not going to be where you want it to be. Exactly. You have to go with the people that actually know what's going on here. So actually, let me back it up a little bit more. I love that you are here to do this due diligence for your investors. I have to, GG. I can't. I can't sell without doing that. And this is what I always share with anyone. When someone first reaches out to me, the first question I'll ask, besides are you working with any other brokers because here they don't have the same buyer agreements that we have in California as licensed realtors, so there are a lot of shopping agents: is what do you know about Dubai real estate market? Oh, I know I can make money. Is that all you know? Do you know the process? Do you know how to purchase off-plan? Do you know how financing works? Do you know what the minimum is for a golden visa? Do you know what an NOC is? Do you know when is the best time to sell your property for maximum capital appreciation? What are the short-term rental returns? What are the long-term? What are the top two developers? No, no, no, no, no. Great. Please go to The Dubai Connect podcast. I have a playlist for new investors. Please take a little bit of time. That is what I have invested heavily in. You see that. If you're watching your podcast, you see the process that you're talking about. Thank you. Yeah. And then, once someone understands how to buy and why, as you mentioned, then come to us, which you're doing this by coming here, then let's get you into the right investment opportunities, whether it be residential or commercial because commercial now is a hot segment of the market. I see that. Yeah. Right? And that's new again. And there are probably only five developers that have commercial opportunities and again, that's you need to have someone who understands why this area and why this developer and not this one, etc. So do your diligence because selling in California is completely different than selling property in Dubai. And so I'm going to ask you just from your perspective of having been here, what would you say are the top three differences in selling property in Dubai versus selling property in California? In California, it's a place where they want to come to and they want to create memories and they want to have their families gather together. It's not so much an investment for finance. It's an emotional purchase. It's something that is going to be generational. It's not something short-term. And that's where the difference is. I think by far the top difference is it's an emotional purchase. It's a really good perspective. They fall in love with the location. And they come and they visit and years and years they come back. Specifically in La Jolla and Coronado actually. These are the two targeted cities in the US. Everybody's right. Yes. So these are the places where I find. It's an emotional purchase, an emotional purchase, a purchase that they want to do and they want to have it. It's also generational wealth. So those are all the aspects that I see where people are like, "You know, we used to come here with my family. We grew up, specifically in La Jolla, let's say the beach and tennis club. We used to do s'mores on the beach Friday nights." Like they're attached emotionally to that time. And now they want to buy something and transition it over to the generational wealth of the family and they purchase in those areas. And that is an emotional purchase. Here in Dubai, I don't see it as emotional. This is not emotional. This is strictly investment purposes and growth. It's almost like we're going to buy this, we're going to hold it, we're going to sell it, we're going to flip it into another one, and build another one, and buy another one. It's more capital growth. So that is absolutely true. And the demographics have shifted. So Betty, about maybe 5 or 6 years ago, it was very investor heavy, but what you're seeing is the population is growing here because of other fundamentals that are drawing people to move to Dubai. So yes, from your perspective, because all your clients are investors, they're not going to move to Dubai. But what we're seeing in Dubai, which is really important, because this is important for your investor to have that faith in the long-term growth, and that this is not a bubble, that there's not a real estate bubble forming, because then they'll be based on speculation versus based on actual facts and figures. The numbers will prove otherwise. Why? Dubai's population just hit 4 million. They're growing at a rate of 200,000 new residents a year. The GDP numbers just were updated right now to be even further than what they originally projected it to be for 2026. So you have economic opportunity, job growth, multinational, safety, you have businesses, as you said, a global hub, that are setting up their headquarters, including American companies, right? You have Disney that just announced that they're going to be building in Abu Dhabi. You have the Wynn Casino that we went to visit in Ras Al Khaimah. So yes, to your point, and there is a huge shift, and you see it when you and I are driving with traffic, the number of people that are also moving here. So there are a huge segment, I think it's about 50/50 of end users and investors, but the investors should have this confidence that this is based on real growth. Another difference, GG, that I found is that over here versus California, you can't just purchase something like catalog here. I'm buying or wait for it. Wait for it. And wait for it. Oh, I want to look at this one. Oh, let me go look at that one. And by the time you go look at that one, that one it's gone. It's all gone. You don't have the time. That shift happens so quickly that if you're not on the ball, that's why it's so important to work with somebody here. Agreed. It can't be me in California trying to connect my clients with an office here to buy from the builder or buy from somebody that I don't know. It's not going to happen. You're not going to get it. You're not going to get it. It happens so quickly. It's seconds. You're right, and I have to battle that a lot with the American mentality because we buy differently in the US. And Dubai is just different. The third item that I would tell you, it's about opportunity. The opportunity that you have here in Dubai where you can actually buy oceanfront property starting 600,000 US dollars. Where are you going to find that in California? Are you kidding me? You're talking millions and millions of dollars on an entry-level. I don't want to call it a teardown, but it ain't. It's not going to be luxury. Right. And you're fighting to get that, and it could be 5, 6, 7, 8, 10 million dollars to get to that. And what about property taxes? Well, property taxes, I mean, come on. Everybody in California or in the states has property taxes. There are none here. None. There are no property taxes. There are no capital gains taxes in Dubai. Now, we as Americans can't get away from capital gains taxes, but there are no capital gains taxes. The other thing you were mentioning about investors wanting to do Airbnb, Betty, isn't it becoming more challenging to even be allowed to do Airbnb? It's very. Let's just say it's saturated now, and the amount of money and dollars that you used to make in your Airbnbs is not the same anymore. So right now here in Dubai, this is all very transparent, by the way, on the portals. Long-term rental averages are between 6 and 9%. Short-term, you typically add another 3 to 5% a year on that. And it's so easy to do from anywhere in the world because there are property management companies, even myself, we can handle it for you. We do it, we market it to the people that are coming here. So like you said, the investments versus emotional purchases here. Number two, you don't purchase based on a brochure here. You have to be quick or you're going to miss the opportunities, and that's not a sales pitch. That is the truth. And the third, just the opportunity to make money in Dubai versus you just mentioned tapped out to make money. Of course, people will always buy in La Jolla because there's only one La Jolla. There's only one La Jolla. Exactly. If you're looking as an investment to make the most amount of money right now in the world, Dubai is where the money is coming, right? Yes, and it's. You could see it. It's daily. It's daily. It's in the hotels. You're walking, it's in the restaurants, it's conversation, you see it. We're in the industry, so we notice that. We could see who's talking business. The person next to you, you don't even know what's happening, they're probably building a hotel down the street. It's that close. It's that close to you that your mind shifts the minute you walk into this country, your mind shifts. You know, they call it Dubai Inc. That's a nickname. It's Dubai Inc. Because it operates like a business. It operates like a business. It is a very engineered, purposeful, driven business based on the vision of the Sheikh. It's not an accidental growth. There are initiatives being constantly placed in to increase the quality of life, to increase the opportunities, to schools. I mean, the infrastructure here, the infrastructure. Is there even one pothole? Nothing. I. There's. I'm trying to find. I'm trying to find something. There is nothing for me to say, "Oh, look, there's one right there." The amount of care that they put into this city, the amount of care that's been put into this city, and the safe and cleanliness of this city. And how do you feel as a woman traveling here alone? Oh my. Are you kidding? Like no, that's what is so incredible. I needed to come and feel this to be able to sell it and to feel. I know the misconception about Dubai, the Middle East, but that's not here at all. It's not here at all. It makes me so happy that you're here to experience and feel this place. This is not your last time. I'm definitely going to be back. This is not your last time. First of many. First of many. You will be coming back to Dubai because I'm going to want to see it grow even to the next level because it is. Especially when the secondary Palm opens up here. Or when the Wynn Casino starts operation in 2027. Area. I mean, Ras Al Khaimah, yeah. It's growth. It's growth and they have more to expand. And so it, the opportunities are endless. It's endless. I'm elated that you came out and you're feeling the passion and that you, being a woman who has been very successful in real estate in the most expensive neighborhood in the entire United States, you are not easily impressed and you have been. Your eyes are just in wonder, you know, every time we go anywhere and we have so much more to still show you. I know. I'm still here for another week, so. So excited forward to everything else coming. Thank you for your perspective, Betty. No, thank you for having me on your podcast. Thank you. I'm looking forward to 2026, our collaborations. Yes. And of course, if anyone's looking to purchase property in La Jolla or San Diego, reach out because we will connect them to you as well, Betty. I have such faith in you and the job you've done in San Diego. So I hope you've enjoyed this perspective of a top California broker coming to Dubai for the first time. And I hope it helps make you feel, if you're an American investor, another global investor who maybe has some misconceptions, even more excited about what's happening in Dubai in 2026. And if you have any questions, reach out. Make sure to like, subscribe, follow, and stay tuned for the next episode of The Dubai Connect podcast.