There is no denying it; things are hard in Dubai at the moment. For a place that sees sunshine almost everyday of the year, the city has an air of gloom around at the moment. The world financial crisis and resulting residential freehold property crash has seen a number of companies downsizing and laying off workers, whilst many developers are putting projects on hold. With no idea of how long the current financial downturn of the world markets will last, people in Dubai have a lot on their minds.

The Dubai real estate market lies at the heat of the problem, having a knock on effect all across the city, and with investor confidence at an all time low, things will probably need to chance here first. The importance of the freehold property market to Dubai cannot be underestimated, so the comings and goings have wide ranging implications for the city. And now the Dubai Property Investors Group is pleading with the Dubai Real Estate Regulatory Agency (RERA) to ensure the future prosperity of the Dubai real estate market before it is too late.

The Dubai Property Investors Group is made up over 300 lawyers, investors and developers, both local and international, who have banded together in an effort to encourage the Dubai Government to take action for the good of the property market. With so many developments currently on hold or cancelled, with a recent estimated worth in the hundreds of billion of Dirham’s, the investors are asking the government to guarantee projects from developers that are now unable to proceed with construction despite already having accepted payments from buyers. They are asking that all payments to developers’ be stopped until there is evidence that developers can deliver on contracts and promises in what are financially difficult times. 

The investors argue failure to act now and route out bankrupt developers will just lead to a continuing in the property price falls current being witnessed. They also are asking that the Dubai government hold back a number of planned larger projects such as Dubailand, so as to ensure there in not an oversupply of property to hit the market which would further hit property prices. Good idea, bad idea? It is hard to say. Should a government play such a large role in manipulating property prices? Will the Dubai government even listen? How this plays out we will have to wait and see for the future of Dubai properties in general.

We also cover more Dubai Property news here.