Does it make sense to compare Dubai and Western house prices?
10/10/2006 Some local commentators have been very sharply critical of past comparisons drawn between Dubai home prices and Western house prices in this column. There is an idea that one investment is safe and secure and the other not so solid. So let us not be that hard on the outlook for house prices in the West. For with US housing in crisis who would be so bold as to assume that house prices in the UK, Spain and other grossly overpriced markets will not follow downwards very soon. Indeed, the assumption that Western house prices are safe is a bold one in current circumstances. To take the UK, house prices have been rising for a record 13 years, although middle-ranking house prices have been losing ground for two years now. In that period the prices of many homes have tripled while salaries have not gained more than 50 per cent. Is this a sustainable scenario? Or look at New York where a two-bedroom apartment costs more than a five bedroom villa in Dubai. Yet take home pay for execut
