Capital Economy, Business and Finance
Spare a thought for Dubai’s estate agents. Super-lux residential prices in the emirate that wants to be one of the world’s top four financial centres will grow this year only a third as fast as they did last, according to Knight Frank. Outside the three prime zones of Palm Jumeirah, Emirates Hills and Jumeirah Bay Island, the slowdown is forecast to be even more marked, from a 19 per cent upswing in the year to last September, to a meagre 3.5 per cent this year. It’s not hard to find reasons: Russian and Chinese buyers aren’t as active as they were, as a consequence of war and the great Chinese economic funk respectively. That said, the Dubai property sector isn’t hurting. Buyers from India, Egypt, Lebanon, Pakistan, Turkey and the UK are picking up at least some of the slack, and a record 431 homes were sold last year for over $10 million. It would be interesting to know how many went to Russian emigrés.