Desperate in Dubai

For about half a year I did a sporadic Dubai real estate crash blog. I nuked it in June, along with everything else.

I still think Dubai is the epicenter for the financial flustercluck we are seeing around the globe. Dubai is the granddaddy of all real estate bubbles, both commercial and residential.

My inbox at work continues to be flooded with spam from desperate Dubai real estate agents, eager to convince people to pay top dollar for properties that are surrounded by hundreds of thousands of square miles of emptiness with the most inhospitable climate in the world outside of Antarctica. Why me? I think it's because my name appeared in a number of trade show directories, with a managerial title. Ergo, I must be a prime candidate to make a sucker's purchase.

Subject: Warehouse in Sharjah Airport Freezone for sale
Date: Thu, 09 Oct 2008 01:31:21 +0400

Worth AED 9 million now for 6.5 million
A top class finish ware house in Sharjah Airport Free Zone for sale.
Land: 27000 sq.ft. .(Appx)
BUA: 6000 sq.ft.(Appx) with office 1100 sq.ft.

ware house with 2" insulation for temperature control with separate truck entrance, with compound wall, car park, telephone lines, garden, pantry, conference rooms, store rooms, all rooms with Air conditioners, separate staff accommodation rooms, adjacent facilities like food court, transportation etc

Good for maintenance workshops, small factory, assembling unit, light industries, trading, manufacturing, ancillary industries, storage, production etc.

Price: AED 6.5 million net to owner + transfer+ 2% commission.
Contact: 050 (deleted)

Sincerely yours,

(deleted),

Real Estate Broker's card No. : (deleted)
Golden Nice House Real Estate Brokers,
Post Box 212031, Dubai. UAE
Mobile : (deleted)
Fax: 04 (deleted)
E-mail : (deleted)realestate.com

So the price dropped from $2.5 million to $1.7 million. The small warehouse isn't worth $2.5 million. It is worth whatever someone will pay for it. I bet they find no takers.

Dubai is so screwed. During the Great Depression NYC had the Empty State Building. Now the ME has the white elephant known as the Burj Dubai. Except that NYC had just one Empty State Building, and Dubai has the equivalent of about 50.