Dubai Gets Flashback to Property Prices Year After Default Scare
- S&P warns prices could fall to 2010 crisis level or even lower
- Virus will add pressure on sector grappling with oversupply
Residential properties in Dubai.
Photographer: Christopher Pike/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
A decade after the global financial crisis pushed Dubai’s real estate sector -- known for its outlandish projects such as man-made palm-shaped islands -- to the brink of collapse, the deadly coronavirus pandemic threatens to send it back there again.
S&P Global Ratings is warning that home prices could slump to 2010 levels as unemployment across key sectors such as tourism and retail eviscerates demand. Prices are currently about 5% to 10% above what they reached a year after the debt crisis in 2009, according to data from real estate services firm Asteco.