This spring, he sold his luxury townhouse and jetted off to the desert sheikhdom of Dubai to start a new life with his family.
Sales of Dubai’s upscale properties, once slow, soared 230% in the first quarter of 2021, compared to the same period last year.
A record-breaking 90 properties worth 10 million dirhams each changed hands last month, on top of 84 in March, surpassing heights hit eight years ago, according to real estate consultancy Property Monitor.
Home prices are still falling in the middle tiers of the city’s saturated property market, which has seen values drop sharply since peaks reached seven years ago due to overbuilding.
“The market is going through a boom time …
The hot streak in the luxury market isn’t unique to Dubai, as ultra-low interest rates and families’ desire for more space has seen the wealthy in cities like New York and Paris decamp to suburban mansions.
Since first reopening to tourists last summer, Dubai has pitched itself as the world’s pandemic-friendly vacation spot.
The country of over 9 million, which relied heavily on the Chinese state-backed Sinopharm vaccine for its inoculation campaign, has administered 10.6 million vaccine doses.
A global financial centre known as an oasis in the volatile Middle East, Dubai long has benefitted from capital flight.
To get a jab, all one needs is a residence visa — which the city already extends to high-end property buyers and investors.
Reech, who plans to buy land in Dubai to build his dream home, booked a Pfizer appointment immediately after he received his residency.
To boost its brand as a cosmopolitan city, the UAE also has altered its strict Islamic legal code, allowing unmarried couples to live together and noncitizens to follow foreign laws for divorce and inheritance.
And even if the market’s meteoric rise comes crashing down, the wealthy are unlikely to bear the brunt of the fallout, analysts say.
Villas one the fronds of the Jumeirah Palm Island are seen from the observation deck of The View at The Palm Jumeirah, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Tuesday, April 6, 2021.