admon

Evidence Number 1.
Bought the Gulf News this morning as I have to look for some warehouse space.
75dhs a square foot (plus tax of course) to rent a shed in Al Quoz? WTF?!!
From that I thought I would have a flick through and came upon the following:

Evidence Number 2.
""Hot Offer"" Mirabella 'luxurious' Spanish Townhouses at Jumeirah Village South. 3.2M, with '50% appreciation expected in 1 year'. 90% Mortgage. Completion 2012. Huh?! WTF

Evidence Number 3.
Old Town. Attareen 2br apartment. BUA 1,705sqft. OP 2,784,00. Thats bad enough. But oh no.. Selling Price 5,115,000. Ask for Marco. Why? Does he tell jokes even better than that one?!?

Evidence Number 4.. This one is my favourite..
"The Golf Homes at Arabian Ranches Golf Course" (Yet more space squeezed out of the ranches to make another few hundred million dhs).
CASTILLA Villa Type C, 8,270sqft, 5 beds, reception and living wing, entry court, fireplace, chef kitchen (as opposed to a normal kitchen?), Maids Room, Terraces, 2 garages.
Then it does a bit of blah about the unparalleled lifestyle experience etc etc...
Price 25.5M

This place is done property wise.. The crash is gonna be a big one and the landing isnt going to be soft.

shiva

25 Million for a place in the ranches.....are they of their heads.
Thats 3,456,505.48 GBP at todays rates.

hhmm let me see, 5 bed townhouse in the ranches or a 9 bed castle in Ayrshire
http://www.struttandparker.co.uk/far...GLG070007.html

Hmm ranches or hampshire
http://www.struttandparker.co.uk/far...LHM040058.html


or if you want the sun this is in the BVI for 1.8 million gbp



just noticed the ranches place has a fireplace...now thats about as much use as........

Jeeper

I have been looking at buying property here over the past couple of years and finally taking the plunge and looking seriously....but it's frickin' scary..... and i'm getting nowhere.

Example:

"Hi: I'm calling about the apartment advertised yesterday for 1,400k"
"Sir, the landlord called this morning and he wants 1,500k"
I think to myself - chancer - but say anyway "will he take 1,400k?"
"no"
I go to hang up and then agent says "you looking for apartment"
"yes" duh.
"are you cash or finance buyer"
"finance"
the guy says "oh - ok" and proceeds to end the conversation.

Have called about apartments on the burj development.....ads for 2,200k etc....get an agent and they say "oh they not at that price anymore".
Same with marina.

Most internet ads are out of date availability and price-wise and are just there to get the phone call....

I worked on Al Barari at one point....villa's there going for 10million in 2006......crazy I think.....now they 25-30million!

Who the f::k wants to live in the middle of the desert....soon to be middle of the worlds biggest construction site and pay 25million for the privilage?!?!?!

The whole place is running on investor purchases....not end-user purchasers......
I think it will still go up for another couple of years......but I can't wait to watch the crash.

I'm out. The iranians and russians etc can have it.

Blue Cat

I agree it is crazy, who has got that sort of money anyway! I am happy with my investment in Bulgaria

Norm_uk

Too right - and you can't live with your significant other unless you're married, you can't even have half a shandy and get in a car without legal repercussions, your internet is censored and you have to put up with some of the most deadly driving in the world...

Add the prices and inflation to that and it's easy to see why nearly half the people I know have all been saying they are planning to leaving in the near future.

When you're paying more to rent a small 1 bedroom apartment here than you would for a 3 bedroom house in greater London you know something is very wrong and something very bad could happen!

Not that I own property here or would even dream of it.

N.

Border Reiver

Those prices are getting ridiculous- villas have usually done better than apartments because there aren't as many of them and a large number of people here (Brits, Aussies and South Africans mainly) have a thing about living in apartments. I've always felt the Old Town was a bit overpriced, especially with the very high maintenance charges.

The prices mentioned in the first post probably aren't sustainable and there always are, as has been pointed out, chancers. Bear in mind that these are asking prices and do not always reflect what the properties are going for but also bear in mind that a lot of the owners/investors can easily afford to have properties sitting empty for years if they need to.

As for not talking to anybody who needs finance- I've just sold a one bedroom apartment at the Greens for rather less than the prices mentioned above and the buyer needed finance. It was a total nightmare from start to finish dealing with incompetent mortgage brokers and barely more competent banks. A process that should have taken one month ended up taking three. That is why sellers don't want to bother with buyers who need mortgages- it is nothing personal.

W10

I don't think that anyone is actually paying those prices quoted.

Autonomy

just curious - you've been one of the biggest advocates for Dubai property and the rental income, why sell now?

pauldxb

25million for a villa at Arabian Ranches, im sure its nice but WTF LOL

Border Reiver

I bought somewhere else. The rental returns at The Greens are still good but I thought I could get better capital growth elsewhere by buying off plan. At my tender age (*cough*) I'm still looking at capital growth rather than income.

Autonomy

UAE or another country?

Border Reiver

No, still UAE. A three bed apartment in Remraam, a two bed and a one bed at the Green Community West.

Eeyore

I think it all ties in with a question I asked a month or so back, namely, at what point does it become uneconomic for businesses to operate here?

The CEO of my company, a major major TECOM employer, says that you "just wouldn't believe" the problems involved trying to run a non-monopolistic company profitably in an inflationary environment such as that of the UAE.

I would be interested to see a survey of all the companies that were attracted to Dubai at the beginning of the 00s, asking them if they knew then what they know now about skyrocketing costs, if they'd still have made the move.

And that's the thing really; tourism alone isn't enough for Dubai. For the grand master plan to work, it has to have a large resident working population earning enough to be able to afford to rent Marina apartments, eat at five-star restaurants, shop at expensive boutiques and so on... but I have to wonder about how much longer companies here will go on increasing their staff costs in order to make that happen.

Sure, none of us higher-paid Western expats is indispensable and they could replace us all with people with much lower salary expectations... but if that happens, who's going to rent the Springs villas and Marina apartments? Who's going to be buying the brand-new 4x4s and shopping at MoE?

I really get the feeling that the government has simply been assuming that either companies will happily and continually increase their outgoings in order to attract and retain the higher-paid staff that are essential to the Dubai economy, or that everyone here thinks it's such a wonderful place that they'll put up with any increases in order to stay here.

The way things are currently going, either salaries are going to have to double or triple, or the cost of living is going to have to fall, quite possibly beyond the control of the government. I know which I think is more likely.

IndieG

You're right. Who the f::k wants to pay millions and smell cr@p - what with raw sewage being dumped in the area behind the ranches.

It is scary - because it will take banks (heavily exposed to this sector)down with it. And don't count on Abu Dhabi to bail them out.

The Dean

A post from Eeyore of which I agree with every word. I need to go and lie down...... although I don't think ALL of us could be replaced by cheaper equivalents. One of the things I like about this region is that all that matters is your experience and ability - they are not going to have to worry about paying you a pension etc so the other ageism crap you get elsewhere doesn't apply.

And Eeyore's last paragraph is worth highlighting - suppose NEITHER happens, at least in the short term?

And when it gets to "Well I'm not paying THAT price' instead of "Well it's a lot to pay, but it will probably go up in value", the end is near.......