Half of Dubai’s Property Projects Halted: Analyst

The emirate’s once-booming real estate sector, which boasts an indoor ski slope and the world’s tallest tower, has been hit hard by the financial crisis as developers halt or cancel projects, property prices fall and jobs are slashed. Delays and cancellations to Dubai’s projects “reflects the lack of available funding and projections of declining population along with continuing job cuts,” the real estate service company said in a report.

Dubai’s property sector is suffering from a slump in prices after a six-year building boom spurred by the emirate’s move to allow foreign investors to buy properties as economic growth boomed during an oil price rally.

Prices have fallen by an average of 25 per cent since their peak in September and some $263 billion worth of projects throughout the United Arab Emirates have been delayed or cancelled, Morgan Stanley said in a report last month.

Vacancies in the emirate’s office market have doubled to around 16 per cent over the past six months, the highest rate recorded, Jones Lang
 LaSalle said.