Is there too much luxury property in Dubai?

Contrary to the popular beliefs of the rest of the world, we residents know that not everyone living here drives a sports car, lives in a big house and has too much gold (this is what they say apparently).  The reality is different, especially since inflation has started to take its toll on a large proportion of residents.  You can’t get the same job packages as before, rents are, for lack of a better word, crazy, and even going out has become more costly.  Enter freehold property, the solution to everyone’s problem concerning rents, as well as satisfying the many people that want to call Dubai home on a permanent basis.  The one minor setback to all this is what I said at the beginning, that not everyone is a millionaire.  So how can non-millionaires afford freehold property when everything is at least a million to buy, bar some studios and one bedroom apartments? 

 The answer, most people will say, is to get a mortgage.  Good idea!  That’s perfect for a nice little property just over the one million mark if you are earning a fair wage.  This doesn’t really help for the properties that are over 2 million which, thanks to inflation again, are much more common.  The fact that living costs have increased, coupled with high interest rates on taking out a loan, not to mention short term borrowing periods (up to 25 years maximum, although most are shorter) compared to mortgages in Western countries all combine together to show that middle to low income earners really have no chance to get on the property ladder. 

 There is certainly a lot of interest in every level of property in Dubai, and there are enough overseas investors to fill the gap of wealth that exists here, but as I see more and more high-end luxury properties for release that run into several million apiece, not including maintenance charges, it shows that the country is catering less and less for the average resident. 

 It is great that there are a number of cheaper developments to buy from: International City, The Greens, The Springs (once upon a time) and the upcoming Jumeirah Village.  Yet, as a proportion of the total property developments that are underway, luxury far outweighs affordability, and it should be the other way round.  At the end of the day, the people that keep this country thriving are the people that live here, not the people that visit from time to time, and since the average person cannot afford a luxury apartment at the Burj Dubai, I think its time for Dubai property developers to realize this and branch out more.

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