subject: All Eyes On Dubai [print this page] Dubai, it seems, is in the eyes of a storm these days. It will be a financial storm of some impact, if the majority of world reports are to be believed. Especially those news items emanating from Europe and USA are insistent that there is something more sinister lurking behind the failure of Dubai World to meet its US$60 billion debt obligations. They would want us to believe that the real reason behind the Dubai Governments refusal to guarantee picking up the debt obligations of Dubai World is that the Government of Dubai is itself going bankrupt. They would point out that the unprecedented exuberance of Dubai and its rulers in seeking to construct the worlds superlative structures has brought them to this crossroad. From the worlds tallest structure to its most expensive apartments hotel in Dubai, from the spacious shopping malls to a skating rink in the middle of a desert climate, Dubai is a country of amazing contrasts and superlatives that have style and extravagance written all over them.
So were the rulers and the think tanks behind Dubais expansion plan all wrong? While it certainly makes a compelling case to say yes right now, let us hope for the sake of Dubai and its citizens that they were not wrong. In fact it was precisely this vision and its implementation at breakneck speed that made the economy of Dubai boom and take off. Over the last ten to twenty years, Dubai has certainly and repeatedly transformed itself from a sleepy fishing village in the desert to a cosmopolitan city with all the possible amenities that money can buy. Many expatriates live lives with villas rent Dubai that they cannot afford in their home countries. So let us remember that if they lent a hand in creating and developing this metropolis, they are also indebted to this city for giving them tax-free employment and an enviable lifestyle.
It is a fact that Dubai was affected by the recessionary trend that started in the USA and worked its way to countries all over the globe, especially in Europe and the rest of the developed world. Its a strange fact that the crisis has affected the housing and financial sectors in Dubai as well, the same as in the USA. The effect has been seen over the last one and a half years, as building activity slowed, projects were curtailed or abandoned and workers were fired en-masse. Even today, after the present crisis, it will take some time before activity resumes at the level seen before the layoffs.
What is interesting is that the present crisis has brought down the Dubai properties rental to acceptable levels. This is true whether we are talking about Dubai villas rent or Dubai offices for rent
. In the opinion of some property market analysts, this market led correction was long overdue and was sorely needed. The present prices and offers for Dubai Property on the whole are far more realistic, and some buyers are still waiting for the dip that is expected somewhere in March, April or May that will undoubtedly occur before the market picks up again.
