After living in London for nearly 30 years, Christophe Reech is fed up with the city’s blockades. This spring, he sold his townhouse and left for the desert city of Dubai to start a new life with his family.
Dubai has many attractive policies to attract wealthy expats. (Photo: AP) He said he had no way back. The businessman’s super-rich foreign friends did the same, sending sales of luxury properties in Dubai skyrocketing. “In Dubai there is only one strategy: do business as usual. The philosophy is simple: Make sure everyone is vaccinated and everything is open. Of course that appeals to me,” Reech, president of a series of real estate and fintech companies, told the AP. As vaccines are being distributed unevenly around the world, disease outbreaks have prompted many countries to extend their lockdowns. As a result, the number of foreign visitors to the luxury real estate market in Dubai skyrocketed. It’s the few places in the world where they can go out to dinner, shop, and meet face-to-face to discuss business. Soaring demand caused the price of villas and townhouses here also to increase rapidly, with 230% in the first quarter of this year. Prices in some first-class areas have increased by as much as 40%, according to Property Finder, one of Dubai’s largest real estate websites. Up to 90 properties worth $2.7 million/unit were changed hands in April, while the whole year of 2020 there were only 54 similar transactions. Many people take advantage of investment to sell for profit. Analysts say this trend will continue until prices get too high and profits dwindle. Low bank interest rates and families’ desire for more space have led many wealthy people in big cities like New York and Paris to look for suburban mansions. But there are other compelling elements in the home of long-haul airline Emirates and the world’s tallest tower. Since reopening to visitors last summer, Dubai is establishing itself as an attractive tourist destination for visitors amid the pandemic. Without mandatory quarantine for many days, foreign tourists are allowed to party in bustling bars and beaches, take selfies at Dubai resorts, while many helicopters are ready to serve their needs. request to return home. The influx of tourists contributed to the outbreak of COVID-19 cases in Dubai in January this year, prompting the British government to decide to postpone flights here. But the UAE, with its young population and low mortality rate, has endured relatively well during the pandemic. This country of 9 million people has used 10.6 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, mainly from Sinopharm. This global financial hub is seen as an oasis in the volatile Middle East. Dubai benefited from the wave of capital flight. Homeowners in the Palm Jumeirah area, which saw a 43 percent increase in transactions in April, are home to Afghan warlords and political elites from countries like Nigeria, Syria and Lebanon. They all want to find a safe place to keep their money. Now, a large portion of the wealthy clientele of this man-made archipelago and Dubai’s luxury villas come from Europe, India, China and Russia, who are looking for a better life. in an epidemic situation. In March, the Palm archipelago saw an expensive home sale, when a Swiss family bought the city’s second most expensive beachfront villa for $ 30.2 million. Last month, a European family bought their third most expensive home for $28.6 million. Although there are many questions about the effectiveness of the Sinopharm vaccine, Dubai allows people to choose, including the Pfizer/BioNTech and AstraZeneca vaccines. In order to be vaccinated, residents need a residence visa – something the city government readily grants to investors and luxury home buyers. Considering buying land in Dubai to build his dream home, Reech ordered the Pfizer vaccine shortly after being granted citizenship. In England, he said he had to wait four months for his turn. Many other initiatives are being taken by Dubai to attract wealthy expats, such as remote work visas, retirement visas, and renewable “golden” visas. To build the image of a cosmopolitan city, the UAE also revised its strict Islamic law to allow unmarried couples to live together and allow non-locals to apply foreign laws on divorce and inheritance.
You must log in to post a comment.