Developments in Dubai

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The government of Dubai took a decision to diversify from a trade-based, oil-reliant economy to one that is service and tourism-oriented. This has made real estate and other developments more valuable, thus resulting in a property boom from 2004 to 2006. Construction on a large scale has turned Dubai into one of the fastest-growing cities in the world. There are a number of large-scale projects which are currently under construction or are to be constructed in the future. Due to the heavy construction which is taking place in Dubai, 30,000 construction cranes, which are 25% of cranes worldwide, are operating in Dubai.^[1] Due to the burst of construction, Dubai has acquired various building-related records, which include: the world's tallest tower (Burj Khalifa), the world's largest shopping mall (Dubai Mall), the world's largest fountain (The Dubai Fountain) and the world's tallest hotel (Gevora Hotel). Also under construction is Dubailand, which will be almost twice the size of the Walt Disney World Resort.^[2]

In 2009, many construction real estate projects were suspended or abandoned due to the Great Recession.^[3] That has also caused property prices to fall considerably throughout the United Arab Emirates, but most notably in Dubai. A Real Estate Regulatory Agency study found that over 200 projects had been canceled between 2009 and 2011. In 2013 Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum created a committee to consider liquidating stalled building projects to pay off investors.^[4]

A 2022 study by economists who had access to leaked Dubai real estate data on 800,000 properties found at least $146 billion in foreign wealth invested in the Dubai property market, which is twice as much as all the real estate held in the United Kingdom by foreigners through shell companies. The study found that approximately 20% of offshore Dubai real estate is owned by Indians whereas 10% is owned by the British, and that an "a number of conflict-ridden countries and autocracies have large holdings in Dubai relative to the size of their economy." By cross-comparing the leaked data with Norwegian administrative data, the study found that 70% of the properties owned by Norwegians in Dubai were not reported in Norwegians tax returns, which raised questions about Dubai real estate investments as a form of tax evasion.^[5]