Despite rising transactional volumes — turbocharged by post-handover plans and other incentives — the real question driving any dialogue in UAE’s real estate is whether there is enough demand to meet the supposed “floodgates of supply”? Despite new launches, analysts fret about dropping enthusiasm levels
It appears that in the Dubai real estate sector since 2016, there have been only two major topics discussed — falling prices and the phenomena of payment plans. Despite being dissected ad nauseam, the clamour for further insight seems almost insatiable. However, it bears repeating
There is something very difficult to formalise about human beings. Something that we attempt to glimpse at, but something that we do not achieve with our theories. All too often, we overlook the power of the narrative in the cause-and-effect of economic relationships. And it
If the point of any government or society is to help people to buy rather than rent, then when rents fall, it becomes harder to do so. The desire to purchase a real estate asset becomes less attractive, especially as rents typically fall in times
Payment plans have become the new normal by which developers sell to investors and end users. Since being introduced to Dubai’s property ecosystem in 2015, they have come to dominate the market, accounting for more than 60 per cent of sales last year. The puzzling
Over the past few months, I have developed a particular distaste for the analyst community over their clustering of opinions around the critical issue of measurement of Dubai property prices. This is an issue that deserves critical oversight, and it is imperative that there be
To all the real estate cynics out there, this is what I have to say. You know precisely the point when discourse on any topic becomes lopsided. The “intellectuals” dominate the airwaves, even as they become increasingly unhinged from everyday life. For a long time,
The gap that has opened up in prices between primary and secondary property markets is mostly attributable to the “cost of money” trade. Developers are directly lending to customers via extensive post-handover payment plans and building the cost into their prices. This allows investors to
It was Herbert Spencer, the Victorian prophet of laissez faire capitalism, who first coined the expression “survival of the fittest” in his book, “Principles of Biology”, brought out in 1864. During this time, the period of Enlightenment, prominent thinkers such as Hume, Kant, Voltaire and
The dark clouds have gathered overhead and, clearly, there is visible anxiety in the current drop in asset prices and of economic activity. Focus seems to have reverted to the level of leverage and the possible “toxicity” of real estate assets, even though it is
