Friday 14 November 2008

Dubai Property Market Starts to Slide

We'd love to bring you good news stories every day, but let's be realistic, there aren't exactly buckets of them around at the moment and we have to relate what's actually happening in the world of overseas property instead of burying our heads in the sand and pretending that the current market instability doesn't exist.

Despite having wagon loads of cash to spend and many vehement protestations to the contrary, it would appear that Dubai's fledgling property market is suffering just as badly from the global credit crisis as everybody else.

A very interesting piece by Jason Benham in Reuters suggests that "secondary prices in Dubai and Abu Dhabi fell 4 to 5%, with Dubai's advertised villa prices falling by 19 percent month-on-month in October after several banks tightened lending conditions in August and September." It also says that : "Apartments in the Dubai International Financial Centre, the nexus of the banking and investment sector, fell as much as 30 percent."

Another sales agent was quoted as saying that property prices had fallen 30-35% in Dubai since September. The downturn has meant that major developers in the Emirate such as Nakheel, Emaar and Damac are either cutting jobs or at least reassessing employment numbers.

This is not good news for the many thousands of Irish investors that flocked to the Emirate after it opened its property market to the world in 2002. But, you know what they say, "it's an ill wind ...". Perhaps this will make room for another speculative run at this most extraordinary of markets in the not too distant future.

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Dubai Property Links

For a selection of property in Dubai click here.

For a list of agents selling property in Dubai click here.

For independent articles on the Dubai property market click here.

For advice on purchasing in Dubai click here.

For news on the Dubai property market click here.

For new releases and product updates from Dubai agents click here.

For a selection of property exhibitions featuring Dubai property click here.

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