Ethos83

Oops, excuse me, Dubai World, not the Government of Dubai, yep, right, got that all straightened out now.

So Dubai World is going to default now.

Taking odds on the following:

1. The expat flight actually happens. Beginning in January and by the end of the school year the expat population drops 25% or more. Rents drop dramatically, property prices drop dramatically, but the cost of living soars.

2. Minor job losses, minor rent decreases or no rent increases. Cost of living soars.

3. Employment actually increases slightly, rents increase slightly. Cost of living soars.

4. Boom times are back! Cost of living soars.

Place your bets, ladies and gentlemen and Commander.

commander

have you placed yours under the 'boys' category...

commander

there you go..and i mean every word of it...

Aikman7981

Worth noting, you also don't live in Dubai.

Who actually pays their own rent here? Anyone? (I'm prepared to be shocked by a flurry of responses in the affirmative)

Ethos83

I get a housing allowance and rent comes out of it (I only spend 2/3ds of my housing allowance).

Blue Cat

this seems the most likely scenario, but I am with Commander too

Meow

I do. We are both self-employed (& own a company here).

I think too many people forget that not everyone is here as an employee. I have many friends who own businesses here.

-

Blue Cat

I agree but I have more friends who are employees than employers

shiva

ditto

typical

Not self-employed, but still pay my own rent. No housing allowance.

(The salary I'm on isn't bad, though)

typical

Oh, and I'd go for 2. It does sound as if there are going to be more leavers in the next few months than there were over the summer, though.

Bungdit Din

and it's a myth that all employees get their rent paid. depends 100% on the sort of business you're in. oil/gas/construction/aviation etc, yes, probably get your rent paid (construction is changing though). everything else, probably not. know lots of people in financial services, publishing, architecture, IT, design, media, retail etc who just get a monthly salary, have to pay their own rent. in the days of 1-cheque it meant lots of them had to take bank loans.

thats one of the reasons why rents have had to fall so much & LLs starting to accept more cheques/monthly payments... rent loans much harder to get from banks now and lots of the people who were getting rent paid have been made redundant. there was an article in the Gulf News about it earlier in the year.

rowell

My money is on 2, why will people leave in Jan, there will be no more of a so called mass exodus than there was at the end of the last school year, things I would say for a hell of a lot will not be any different, Dubai is no more f****d now than it was a year ago, yes there will be more lay offs from the likes of Limitless, DP, Nakheel, if indeed there are any expats left in there. I think the cost of living here will go even higher than it is now, imported goods will increase in price, alcohol will increase even more, Salik will at least double, most of the people I know who live in Dubai actually work in AD anyway. Just watch the AD border creep near to and include Jebel Ali, once you see the garage signs change you know its happened. Besides that what the hell is there to go back to wherever you are from, if it was any better people would already have gone

Aikman7981

I just got a call from Regent Intl School actually offering my son a place for the upcoming term.

We alreadydecided to go with AD instead, but this seemed curiously timed. They must know some students won't be coming back and fewer are headed for Dubai so now is the time to get aggressive and secure students.

Funny how things change.

Ethos83

I follow rental prices judiciously, and they've dropped compared to a week ago.

Not a whole lot, but there's movement in that direction.

The irony is, of course, that if rental prices will drop enough to make it worthwhile for me to move into my own flat in the Marina at the same rent I pay for my third of a shared villa in Umm Suqeim, I won't have the financial security to commit to a lease!

Well, good thing I prefer villa life and my flatmates and I have become good mates.