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Can’t afford a home in Mumbai? Buy in Dubai

Post the steep crash in real-estate prices in 2008, new developments in Dubai’s emerging suburbs like Al Warsan and Media City are redefining benchmarks of affordable housing.

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Have money to invest in a home? Try Dubai, where a suburban apartment can cost you as little as Rs20 lakh. In Mumbai, the most ‘affordable’ home within city limits will cost you upwards of Rs60 lakh. A home that matches the price in Dubai will be in faraway Panvel or Mira Road, where apartments sell for Rs30 lakh and above.

Post the steep crash in real-estate prices in 2008, new developments in Dubai’s emerging suburbs like Al Warsan and Media City are redefining benchmarks of affordable housing. “You can get a 500 sq ft studio apartment for 1,60,000 Arab Emirates Dirham (approx Rs19.20 lakh); or a 1 BHK for just Rs25 lakh in any of the clusters of the International City,” said Dubai-based consultant Vijay Choudhary.

These low-cost homes on free hold land are targeted at the new wave of expatriates. And they come with all the trappings of a world-class gated community. “The city centre is a 20-minute drive away, unlike the two-hour commute that comes as a package with affordable homes back in Mumbai,” adds Choudhary.
The rush for buying homes in Dubai has picked up in the past 12 months. “Unlike Mumbai, where the blessings of friendly political and institutional establishments allows developers to hold on to their prices, the free market economy of Dubai has no such cushion to fall back on,” says Percy Dastur, a Dubai-based management consultant.
  
He says the glaring disparity between Mumbai and Dubai’s realty markets, can be explained by the fact that prices have gone up by nearly 50 per cent in one market, while they are still 50 per cent down in the other.

According to Sanjay Dutt, CEO-Business, Jones Lang LaSalle India, actual buyer interest is largely from investors responding to the rationalised property rates in Dubai to cash in on an improved market later. But he warns that Dubai is a doubtful investment destination, given that it is likely to see more than 45,000 residential new units being added over the next two years. “On the other hand, Mumbai’s real estate prices are based on the prices buyers were willing to pay during the boom period. Developers have been slow to respond to the new market dynamics, so there is definitely an element of inflation in the pricing now,” he said.

For all the temptations, for some Dubai is still the place to just work, save up and return home. “What will you do with the apartment, if you don’t have a job here?” asked media professional Ajay Joshi, adding that he is still putting together the down payment for that ‘affordable’ 2BHK flat in Navi Mumbai.
Indians constitute around 42% of Dubai’s population, and this proportion reflects in the Emirate’s real-estate market. According to Dastur, scores of Indians - and Mumbaikars - own homes in Dubai. These homes are across price segments, from the Rs20 lakh homes in Al Warsan and Business Bay, to multi-crore villas in the upscale Palm Jumeirah, Arabian Ranches and the Golden Mile.

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