Waddilove says a sharp take off in investor activity could jeopardise the stability and growth of the Dubai job market.
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A sharp take off in the residential market could undo the current levels of stability and growth being witnessed in Dubai’s job market says MacDonald and Co director, Ben Waddilove.
Speaking to Big Project Middle East during Cityscape Global, Waddilove commented that there is evidence of stability and positive growth in the Emirate’s job market, with “improvements in sentiment”, but that the trend could be jeopardised by a sharp take off investor activity.
Asked about his predictions for the coming 12 months, Waddilove said: “The stability will continue so long as the residential market doesn’t take off, with prices getting to high and people getting into trouble again.
“Those people who are buying off plan apartments I really hope they are able to pay for the rest of it and we don’t see what happened before. People have short memories,” he added.
This year’s Cityscape Global, which concluded in Dubai on Thursday, saw a string of project announcements from the Emirate’s largest developers, including Meydan City, Falconcity of Wonders and Dubai World Central. Emaar also launched its new Egypt-based project, Cairo Gate.
The predictions come as MacDonald and Co previewed their 2013 Salary Survey, due in full in Q1. According to the preview, which focuses on the Dubai market, maximum CEO salaries have reached AED150,000/month, with the lowest salary quoted stood at AED25,000/month.
Waddilove also hinted that Turkey could become the next big employment market, as the Arab Spring continues to play out across other parts of the MENA region.
“This is more stability [in Dubai] with a little bit of improvement in sentiment; there is a lot of money still coming in from tourism, retail, hospitality and so on and there is definitely money filtering back in from the Government,” Waddilove continued.
“The residential market is quite strong in places, with a number of project announcements made at Cityscape, and there are definitely transactions going through according to the agents. But that’s because of strength in other sectors and people relocating to work in other industries,” he added.