Dubai 2011 a Better Place you Still Cannot Find

Dec. 9, 2011 - PRLog -- Mention Dubai to the average European and you will hear endless commentary and diatribe about how a greed fuelled building frenzy artificially propped up an unrealistic property market.

There is no shortage of horror stories to boot as well. Relatively normal couples from the UK and other European countries take almost some kind of sick pleasure in explaining blow by blow how they got caught up in the dream and great expectations became greater disappointments.

Of course the less adventurous, less likely to get caught up in the excitement of a smoke and mirrors illusion are equally as annoying with their “Told you so” account of why they did not dip their toe in the water, never mind taking a full body plunge as the other wound-lickers seemed to do.

So what has happened to Dubai? Is it as these soothsayers will have us believe? Is it a burst bubble?

Well methinks not! Dubai is thriving. This city of Firsts is still exactly that – a city of Firsts and it has everything to be proud of as the UAE turns 40 years old this month.

Okay we must not make light of plight as supposed savvy investors lost their Brookes Brothers shirts having invested in property schemes that to put it politely, didn’t quite make the mark.

The cynics say that those that lost lots were playing out of their leagues, punching above their weight, flying with the big guns with which they could never rub shoulders and shouldn’t have tried. The moaners, who tried to ride the bucking bronco of real estate investment, were unaware that if they got thrown, it would hurt. They just didn’t look that far ahead.

And there are some sob story casualties where property developers had taken deposits and…. well that was it really! They took deposits and delivered nothing. They are the ones that need a good kicking!

Let’s face facts. The marketing materials, and promotional brochures and blurb all indicated that life would be amazing forever in Dubai. Well perhaps that was a little far reaching, sweeping and a generalization. We all know that all generalizations are incorrect.

However life is great in Dubai, and contrary to what sells newspapers, there are far more good news stories than bad. The Dubai Motor Show at the end of November was out of this world, and in true Dubai style.

Then the Dubai Air Show – only Dubai could host an air show at and around one of the busiest airports on the planet! Business is good in every area if you have money. Life is outstanding if you can pay your way. That is the case everywhere is it not?

The property market definitely got an unfair battering in the press, mainly because it was the man in the street of the UK that was affected. The man with his white van, the one that nobody knows what he does but he always seems to have a few quid, the man that managed to somehow come up with the paperwork to get him a loan for a property that he was going to flip, and then flip two, and then flip….his lid!

The funny thing is that there is still a market. If you are going to look at a villa on The Palm Jumeirah, best you take your cheque book! If you like it – chances are so will somebody else, and he who crosses the palm (sorry!) first with silver or legal tender will get the prize. You snooze, you lose!

However that market indicator doesn’t make the news headlines! That pulse reading is ignored probably because it is not the bottom end of the market, the sensationalists and tabloid followers convince themselves that this is not a true reflection of the market.

In reality it is! The Dubai market is an imbalanced market anyway. It is not a level market of low to mid price housing with a smattering of luxury, and a dash of extreme opulence; far from it! The market in Dubai is a luxury top end. It is geared in every aspect for the top end earner. Those that have are having a ball – those that don’t - well guess Sherlock!

The survivors of the myriad of property developers in Dubai are the good guys. The strong have faced and even embraced the challenge that the altered market conditions presented.

Every one of them was playing in the same industry, the same level playing field yet the behavior of the players differed greatly.  Yes the market changed; yes the anticipated returns can be seen to be optimistic now with the benefit of 20-20 hindsight. So why should some investment company directors prove to be very far from the side of decent honest and truthful?
Was it always their intention to trick and defraud? Well is there any other reason why they would take that road? We all have choices to make.

Once again it was the established companies, or those with decades of genuine hands on experience in international property development that stood the test of time or stood the litmus test of integrity and responsibility. It was the good and honorable professional companies that delivered their products despite the changes in conditions and perceptions of the marketplace.

You can take a random extreme like the questionable mob from GPD Investments (have a look at their website and you might find a new definition for terminological inexactitude)  where each one of their investors has been left with nothing. The company took the money from the investors and now the investors are left without their money- without a property and as for chances of recovering their money – well we noticed a snowball at the entrance to Hades with a big toothy smile, looking more confident about his next steps than the GPD Investment clients!

And then in complete contrast you have the likes of Emaar, Nakheel, Damac and British owned The First Group – all who responded to the changes in market conditions and delivered quality product, and continue to do so as they in their niche markets have actually a demand for their products. The First Group is especially conspicuous with an array of major sports stars letting it be known that they too have great confidence and comfort in investing with The First Group.

This international developer priding itself on building important and iconic buildings continues to do just that – just like it says on the tin! That alone makes them unique, as it was the foreign developers who seemed to cause most of the hoo-hah! Not The First Group; the award winning developer is going from strength to strength, and following the successful launch of premier development in Sports City, has just opened the first of their projects in Dubai’s Internet City, First Central.

This 30 floor luxury hotel apartment development opened its doors on a soft opening just in time for Eid Al Adha. Hot on the heels are the developers’ further developments in the Tecom district, Grand Central and  Metro Central – not only are these buildings unique and exciting in architectural design – they are being delivered in Dubai to meet a demand that genuinely exists.

And what was it that enabled a company like The First Group to identify the best areas for development? Well it is no secret that Sports City is going to blow more than the doors off sports hospitality. We heard that. However The First Group headed lock stock and both barrels smoking to Dubai’s Internet City, in particular to Tecom where some little companies were making their tax haven corporate headquarters; little start-ups that you might have heard of, such as Google, Microsoft, Dell, Yahoo, AT&T, Intel, IBM, Canon, Oracle, HP, Cisco Siemens, and guess who… The First Group themselves, http://www.thefirstgroup.com/. What is that you say? You get judged by the company you keep?? Judge away!

So whilst you might find solace and comfort in bleating with the sheep about that old devil called Dubai, the real news and finger on the pulse is a different story.  Dubai is kicking! The great companies are doing great and they have a dedicated following of very happy shiny people. Happy 40th birthday!