mission

despite some of the negative comments, i am also looking into buying a property over here and have a couple of pre-approval mortgage applications in the process.....over the last 8 years that i have been here i have 'wasted' over £147k in rent money......i could have paid half a mortgage in that time had i brought here when i initially moved in 2008.

I know a number of people who have brought here, people living here and people who have invested over here, and from what i can see none of them are loosing out on any equity/bad investment.

For me, i see myself being here for quite some time and so it only makes sense to buy.....the only drawback is the initial down payment...as an expat the banks require 25% as a down payment, which on a property of approx AED 2m is a down payment of AED 500k/£87k which isn't chicken feed.

Many are against buying because they only see themselves being here for a short amount of time 2-5 yrs (if that). But anyone who sees themselves being here for a very long time, buying, i think would make sense.

And of course it goes without saying that you have to make sure you know all that is involved with buying ie what your rights will be etc.

Meow

UAE prepared for property price correction of up to 20 per cent this year, says S&P | The National

"Dubai’s property market is likely to drop in value by 10 to 20 per cent over the remainder of 2015 and early 2016, but its major players are in a better position to cope with this than in the previous crash of 2009, according to the ratings agency Standard & Poor’s (S&P)."

Millhouse

which means - 50% ... there is no such thing as a small drop in an emerging market.

norsk

Also worth remembering that whilst it may be at least partly correct that the 'major players are in a better position to cope with this than in the previous crash of 2009' this doesn't mean they will not screw their customers.

it just means they won't have to ask the rich uncle up the road for help...

Desert Shaikh

In what way will the developers screw the customers?

norsk

1. Take customers money
2. Cancel project
3. Tell customer; Sorry no money to refund you.

And please don't tell me the escrow facilities will help..

Meow

And not to mention how the big developers treat their suppliers and contractors. There are still payments owed to many companies that are years overdue. Whether they'll ever get paid is doubtful.

Desert Shaikh

Got you :-)

Same as what happened during the last crisis.

Desert Shaikh

So all in all, we are expecing another s**t storm. Probably worse this time.

Millhouse

Not at all. There is a lot more equity in the market this time (and a lot less debt).

scrubbedexpat141

/ I thought a lot of property here was cash-bought?

Meow

Not all. Lots of expats with big mortgages.

Millhouse

that's basically what I said...

mortgages are not controlled to be 25% equity - have been for a while. which will soften the blow.

scrubbedexpat141

Yeah, I meant it as a kind of statement that I wanted to verify....if that makes sense.

Someone quoted some outrageous stats about how much %-wise of property was bought cash rather than mortgaged.

But I also see / hear lots of folk - as Meow said - with mortgages as expats etc.

Just sums up the bullshit parade that this place can be, imagine getting actual facts from a believable source eh?

mission

awesome.....I'm all for property prices coming down.