As the Middle East frets about conflict, Dubai booms with an influx of anxious wealth

abcnews.go.com:

As conflict casts a shadow across the Middle East, people are getting rich in Dubai

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — As conflict casts a shadow across the Middle East, people are getting rich in Dubai.

The desert sheikdom’s economy is buzzing with tourism and construction as it positions itself as a safe haven in a region that's resting on a knife’s edge following the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Iran.

“Dubai is in a very unique position. We happen to be the net beneficiary of crisis in the region, for good or bad,” Zhann Jochinke, the chief operating officer of real estate consultancy Property Monitor, told The Associated Press.

Dubai has a long history of indirectly benefiting from crises in the region. When the ultra-wealthy worry about turmoil, the city offers stability, low taxes and a friendly visa system.

The current turmoil has situated Dubai to capitalize once again, as it did during the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Demand is running red hot in Dubai’s real estate market, catapulting glitzy properties to record-breaking valuations. Not even historic flooding in April could dampen the bull market.

State-backed Emaar Properties, whose name is splashed across Dubai’s skyline, announced that its development business made $8.1 billion in sales through the first half of the year, up from $5.2 billion over the same time period last year.

Across the city, valuations for Dubai’s upscale villas have set a new record, increasing around 38% in the second quarter of 2024 compared to last year, according to real estate consultancy ValuStrat. The average price for a villa — the local term for any freestanding home — exceeded $2.7 million for the first time in a decade. Rises in