real estate in dubai

Sinking Real-Estate Market Forces Architects to Reconsider their Prospects
GLOBAL REPORT : U.A.E

In recent years, architects descended upon Dubai, eager to capitalize on its feverish building boom. But while the Persian Gulf city’s sprawling skyline is still dotted with cranes, the market here has fizzled.
As of early February, more than half of Dubai’s real estate projects were on hold or canceled, from the 3,281-foot-tall Nakheel Tower designed by Woods Bagot to the Hydropolis, a 220-suite underwater hotel envisioned by designer Joachim Hauser. Analysts predict that Dubai property values, in total, will decline up to 60 percent in 2009 after years of record growth. Given this drastic turn of events, architects are being forced to reconsider their prospects in the region.