I am going to provide my report on the booming property market in Dubai. It was really cheap in the starting and it all started with three developments. The Marina, Emirates Hills, and the Springs and Meadows. It was really cheap as a villa in Meadows and Springs costed around Dhs 400,000 and Emirates Hills around Dhs 2,000,000. An appartment in Marina costed around Dhs 400 sq.ft. These are just estimates. Today the same thing has become 10 times more expensive. And more and more developments are yet to come. The range of the present rate is Dhs 4,000-12,000 sq.ft. Such a big difference in a span of 6 years maximum is a big achievement for any country. But is it really worth it?
The corruption has increased 100 times. For example, the rent of an appartment in Bur Dubai for 1 Bedroom, 2 Bedroom, 3 Bedroom, and 4 Bedroom appartment was Dhs 25,0000, Dhs 40,000, Dhs 60,000, and Dhs 90,000 respectively. But the present rates are Dhs 90,000, Dhs 120,000, Dhs 160,000, and Dhs 180,000 respectively. This is due to high amount of corruption. Here the landlords have assigned ‘Managers’ for their respective buildings. The landlords own many buildings and therefore there are many managers. Mostly all the managers are from the Asian subcontinent specifically from South India. Since they are authoritative they demand the so-called “key money” if you want the rent to be discounted by some amount or if a building is in demand then to get a flat in it. This ‘key money’ is not only for private buildings but also for public buildings. There are many people from South India, who have no work, and completely rely on this. They will not allow your application in the government buildings to be processed until and unless you pay them Dhs 50,000 as ‘key money’. They will give it for free to their ‘own people’ who belong to their State. And all this I am not claiming, it is reality as I have faced it, and trust me, when you cant find an appartment, you have nothing but to either pay the opportunists or go home and cry. There is no humanity remaining in Dubai if you want an appartment. There is a so called body known as Real Estate Regulatory Agency (RERA). I believe they dont have a website, and even if they do, it is unknown. Even the police is doing nothing about all this. Then why do all the high authority people make claims that they are fighting corruption? How will they know what is happening internally? Do they even step out of their Range Rovers or Mercedes to see what is happening in reality? No, they dont care. Because all they want is Dubai being in the news for its accomplishment in development. They dont care about humans dying while constructing it or commiting suicide because of the behaviour of the greedy landlords and their Managers. To conclude, money has taken over humanity, and all those people claiming they care about people, they should first try and do something about corruption which is a menace in the country. CEO’s of a few companies are put behind bars, and they believe everything is sorted and Dubai is a corruption free country, then they are wrong. There is alot more remaining to clean up and it cannot be done by the general public as everyone is scared they will be kicked out of their house.
If anyone is facing problems in Dubai or anywhere else, do leave a comment about your experience.