Dubai’s property debacle continues
A renegade real estate agent was caught, Nakheel slashed 400 jobs, Deyaar's former CEO is accused of taking bribes and Dubai's property sales are half of what they used to be. What's next?
July 9, 2009 2:44 by Dana El Baltaji
Meanwhile, Nakheel announced it has axed a further 400 jobs over the course of two weeks, reported The National on Wednesday. If you count Nakheel’s redundancies in December 2008, the developer has slashed 900 jobs in eight months.
To be fair, however, those made redundant were given a six-month pay package.
And in other real estate news, Dubai’s property sales and the value of transactions dropped by almost 50 percent during the first half of 2009, according to REIDIN.com, a property monitoring research company.
“Earnings across the UAE real estate board are likely to be weak for the second quarter,” said Chet Riley to The National, an analyst at Nomura Securities, in reaction to the data. “We are seeing some signs of stability in the underlying market, but ‘crunch’ comes in the second half of the year, when a number of developments are due.
“Any development delays, which we are starting to see, will not allow developers to recognize sales revenues and may lead to further analyst earnings downgrades,” Riley added.
When will Dubai get back to business as usual?
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5 Comments
Brides? Surely you mean Bribes.
Additionally, any way to get a practical interpretation of the real estate laws passed by the govt.? Or were these simply passed for lipservice?
What is bail worth when new charges appear only when the bail application is put in ?
The laws on punishing real estate developers who have taken money from several investors and not started construction at all seems heavily in the real estate company’s favour.
This is good news, a reminder to everyone that you cannot escape from the crime. That your position in the company will not save you.
The rest of the world is in a bad recession. Dubai depends on the rest of the world, just like many other centres of similar economic orientation. More importantly, it is the first real downturn in the UAE, ever. Expatriates who have never faced a recession previously are the majority in Dubai. The going has been good for a very long time. Count the current scenario as a learning experience. Hang in there and keep Dubai moving. All those who became millionaires thanks to Dubai, owe it to the Emirate.