“The fundamentals in the market are too strong,” he said. “There won’t be a crash.” These words were spoken last year by the head of the largest state development firm in Dubai. But it seems that things have changed:
Since then, residential real-estate prices in Dubai have slumped by almost 50%. Developers have slashed jobs and scrapped projects. Groundbreaking on the tower was long ago put on hold. The yearlong retrenchment culminated in last week’s surprise announcement that Dubai would seek to restructure $26 billion of debts owed by Dubai World, the holding company for many of the government’s port, infrastructure and real-estate businesses.
Some brief but astute comments from a blogger at the New Yorker:
Last Wednesday, Dubai asked to be excused six months of payments on a debt of fifty-nine billion dollars owned by Dubai World, the state-backed conglomerate. Yesterday, Dubai’s stocks fell 7.3 per cent; today they fell another 5.6 per cent. And the Gulf News, an English-language Dubai newspaper, has reported this online with the headline: “UAE markets bounce back at the end of trading sessions.”
Dubai was meant to be a Middle-Eastern Shangri-La, a glittering monument to Arab enterprise and western capitalism. But as hard times arrive in the city state that rose from the desert sands, an uglier story is emerging. Johann Hari reports
A wife of Dubai’s ruler condemned Israel’s offensive on the Gaza Strip and called on Thursday for urgent humanitarian aid to the beleaguered Palestinian area.
Since the length of the room is only slightly larger than the height of an adult male, the workers have to make vertical arrangements by having two sleep on a two-level bunk bed while the other two sleep on the tiles beneath. A fan is attached to a wall to keep them cool.
Paris Hilton could be the latest in a constellation of stars to light up Dubai’s property sector, in a possible $2 million (Dh7.3 million) deal with Abu Dhabi-based developer, Hydra Properties.
A small sample of some of the more notable detainees of the many hundreds of foreigners arrested and imprisoned in Dubai for relatively small offences. Though they are privileged by their countries of origin and status, resulting in many early releases and pardons, spending even a month in jail for posession of perscription medication may be a frustrating experience.
As part of its efforts to reduce pollution and create alternative sources of energy to meet growing demand, the city of Dubai has launched a major initiative to harness solar energy.
