shiva

The numer is nearer 800-900 !!!
http://hrw.org/reports/2006/uae1106/uae1106web.pdf
http://hrw.org/reports/2006/uae1106/...6webwcover.pdf

see page 40

although you may have problems finding it online as the links dont work half the time, if not google "building towers, cheating workers" a report by human rights watch

(as originally posted by MJC)

Norm_uk

I wouldn't buy here unless I had money to burn.

IndieG

Unfortunately the vast majority of people buying now (as opposed to the very few who managed to get on the ladder very early on) aren't exactly the ones who have money to burn.

2 bed room apartments in the Springs going at AED 1.8 million , original price of around 300-400k(?).

Appalling build quality - e.g.,

"There is a tendency to use a 'trial and error' approach to materials and processes which have not been standardised or fully tested."

"These processes are applied without supervision, leaving poor results. A more professional approach is needed, with special attention to the entire design construction process."
http://www.ameinfo.com/49153.html

http://m.rtijn.info/dubai/marina/200...ds-villas.html

http://archive.gulfnews.com/articles.../10021178.html


massive delays, poor customer service,

http://archive.gulfnews.com/articles.../10098088.html


no consumer protection, poor warranty periods (1 year!),

knee jerk laws (how would recent investors feel about the rent cap?).....the list is endless.

I wouldn't buy one either. In the remote event I win a high rise apartment in a raffle, I wouldn't live in it either!

Eeyore

Thing is, the rent cap *had* to happen if Dubai was to remain remotely competitive. Potential expats are becoming far more clued-up about how much it actually costs to live here (in no small part due to forums like this one), and so when their prospective Dubai employers try and do the "Ooooh look! It's sunny all the time! There's no income tax! And petrol is dirt-cheap!" misdirection, they're coming back with "Yes, but rent is so bloody expensive I might as well be being taxed, and the dirham is worth squat now [at least until they stop pegging it to the dollar], so I want a salary that properly compensates me for that".

Given that the whole point of companies moving to Dubai is that it's supposed to be a cheaper place to do business, salary inflation is the last thing any CEO wants, so the rent cap *had* to happen, otherwise companies are going to start making good on their threat to relocate out of Dubai (Qatar and Bahrain will welcome them with open arms) and new companies won't set up here in the first place.

I don't see what any investor has to complain about, anyway... rental yields are still very high here. If they recently bought a second-hand property at some stupidly inflated price on a 15-year mortgage and they've suddenly realised that they're not going to be able to charge enough rent for it to completely cover the mortgage payment each month... hell, welcome to the real world!

MJC

You know, there are some individuals here who appear to have had some sort of education.

Unfortunatly, they do not understand that there's a shed load of thickies out there who believe "The Dream".

Don't you just love a marketing machine.

Norm_uk

What astounds me is people pouring their entire savings into Dubai property instead of having property as part of a balance portfolio of investments (which would include equities offshore if they are wise)...but then it's their money and Dubai is lacking in qualified financial advice at virtually every level...

....which is why the UAE's stock market was down by around 40% in 2006...

still if you've got money to burn...

W10

I thought it was more than 40%, but then my maths is awful.

I know it fell well over 1000 points...and they called it a correction

IndieG

DFM's General Index fell 44.4 per cent during 2006 compared to 2005.

DFM's index closed at 4,127.33 in 2006 from 7,426.37 in 2005.

Courtesy: Gulf News !

Fairydust

BUT would you all still be complaining if you'd been shrewd enough to have invested early on and were now sitting fat dumb and happy

IndieG

There is nothing 'shrewd' about investing early and sitting on notional profits in the property market here! Sorry, I call that a gamble and you were lucky. The market is at a high – so that does not make you savvy. This is akin to idiots who thought they were extremely savvy when they gambled in the stock markets and made plenty of paper profits when the markets were zooming. I had enough ‘shrewd investors’ advising me to buy Emaar at 27 because they believed it would hit 40 in a month. You know what happened to them?

Shrewd is when you actually manage to realise your profits and are able to ride the market during both the highs and lows. Shrewd is when you do not actually lose money when the market has a downturn.

I invested in property in Mumbai. I have seen a complete property cycle – when it went through a high (thought I was very smart too), then crashed mightily (thought I was an idiot for not selling it at the high). It is now on an upswing, appreciated many times more that the UAE property market. No – I am not feeling fat dumb and happy. I will feel fat dumb and happy only when I actually sell at profit and deposit the cash into my account!

MJC

And I'm just fat and dumb.....

Fairydust

And I know of lots of people who bought and sold and now have the cash in their accounts - hence my comment.

Fairydust

Hahahahah

IndieG

They are shrewd and rich, hopefully they are neither fat nor dumb

Border Reiver

I'm happy!