Having been out of Dubai for the last four or five weeks and spending a few days catching up with my friends and colleagues I am feeling change. Reading around the local newspapers, magazines and UAE blogs the financial crisis has really started to have a tangible effect on daily Dubai life.
Let me take a few examples:
1. Taxis – a popular topic of discussion for all Dubai inhabitants. Now there is a positive plethora of taxis available for hire at anyone give time. A short while ago trying to get a cab on Thursday evening in Dubai Marina was nigh on impossible. Now just a short wait will find you one.
2. Traffic – again another popular conversation for Dubai locals. Right now is usually the very busiest months for traffic in Dubai. The shopping festivals, kids are in school, the weather is cool and winter in Europe usually means a deluge of people coming into the city and ultimately traffic for Dubai. Now a Thursday night trek down the Sheikh Zayed Road is something I can easily do without the need for a packed lunch and bottled water.
3. Property – this has crashed. And crashed hard. In Dubai Marina apartments can be had for less than 1000AED a square foot where only six months ago the price was 1600+AED a square foot. This puts them back at the price they were when originally constructed and has left many with a mortgage in a negative equity trap. Plenty of sellers, few buyers and hard to get finance with high interest/profit rates makes for a tough market. I am sure it will recover. but only over the next few years. It is perhaps now where the smart investor could pick up a place at a reasonable price and get a good 8-10% yield on it despite the gradual decrease in rents.
4. Friends – some of my friends are leaving Dubai. It seemed for the first thirty months in Dubai there was a continual stream of new expats arriving in Dubai on almost a daily basis. There are now a lot of them leaving and it has now effected my circle of friends. Tomorrow night I go to my first “Leaving Dubai” party caused by redundancy. I find this heart breaking.
On reflection – a less hectic Dubai with more affordable housing and a currency that is linked to a strong dollar? Sounds to me like a good place to be if you are asking a humble expat like myself. Of course when friends who are near to you leave it is never pleasant, but I look at it in a different light. I now have an good excuse to visit new and exotic places for a vacation.
hi aaron,
what do you think for buying now an appartment at palm jumeirah?,before i bought my appartment of silverene, i had also interessed in oceana movenpick and shoreline. now prices are fallen also ,my realestate agent goes also to dubai end of the month so i can visit some places.
ciao yv.
By: BORGHS on March 6, 2009
at 12:07 am
so construction has probably come to a halt, right? too bad it took a recession for dubai to be affordable to regular people.
now is a good time to buy property in the states also.
By: ilka on March 6, 2009
at 1:58 am
I have yet to see any changes in traffic. But then again I haven’t gone down on SZR for months.
By: Umar in Dubai on March 6, 2009
at 5:11 pm
Well done on your blog recognition.
The recession is a worry throughout the world. The problems in Dubai are making the news in Australia.
From what I can see having been to the Emirates frequently in the last few months Abu Dhabi seems to have fewer problems than Dubai at the moment.
Almost impossible to find satisfactory rental accommodation in AD but development is much slower and more organised.
Hopefully the world will sort itself out soon and the ready credit will not be so easy to get.
By: Robyn on March 8, 2009
at 8:33 am
Hello Aaron etal,
I came across your site while doing some background research for a project; hope you don’t mind me writing.
I am a photojournalist with international distribution planning a trip to Dubai in April, and I am looking for subjects to photograph and/or interview. I am published in The New York Times, Vanity Fair, GQ, Marie Clair, and many other international publications; this piece will receive similar distribution. The story will be about Dubai’s growth and uncertain future; it will be a balanced report of the city’s potential and a sympathetic portrait of its residents and workers (expats, foreign workers and residents alike, labor to upper management).
I would greatly appreciate a reply from anyone possibly interested in contributing to the story: if you have recently lost your job, or know someone who has, please contact me. If you have any locations to suggest, I would also appreciate that. I am researching the story from the US, and have compiled a dossier of info etc on Dubai, but am also trying to establish contacts on the ground.
Thanks so much,
and all the best.
By: anna on March 10, 2009
at 2:33 am
Hi Aaron,
I agree with you on the differences seen in just a month. I was away on vacation for around two weeks, in March, and saw the difference too.
On a personal positive note…we just found out that the flat next to ours has been rented out at a much lower rate, so a couple of us from the building intend to go to the real estate agent and try to get our rents lowered.
By: Kanchan on April 1, 2009
at 1:44 pm
Hi Kanchan – yes the rate of change is phenomenal. Good luck with your rent change.
By: Aaron on April 3, 2009
at 2:04 pm