Examining Dubai

While the events of the last few months have put the spotlight on the GCC region as a whole and on its surprisingly reactive response to the economic crisis, it is Dubai that has been put under a magnifying glass. When news spread of the Dubai World default, people feared a second economic crisis, with its epicenter in the Dubai real estate market.

Dubai has been put under a magnifying glass across the globe. When news spread of the Dubai World default, people feared a second global economic crisis, with its epicenter in the Dubai real estate market.

Brand Dubai has been closely associated with its real estate offerings and series of iconic buildings — from sail to palm-tree-shaped residential developments to the world’s tallest supertower. The real estate crash, here more than anywhere, has inspired equally sensational newspaper headlines around the world. The following analysis attempts to reveal the state of the real estate market in hard facts and statistics. The case study takes a wide-angle view that considers foreign investment, the rise and fall in prices of residential property, and the number of transactions year by year to give a more measured view of the situation.

Dubai Marina

The graph below shows the fluctuation of the average value of a 1 bedroom apartment in the Marina from January 2003 to November 2009.

dubai_marina_avg_value-v2

Villas

Even at the higher end of the spectrum with four bedroom villas in Emirates Hills, there is a similar rise and fall of the average price back to 2006 levels.

average_price_per_sqft_4br-v2