Question: I own an apartment in Dubai and was planning to sell it this year. But now, because of all the uncertainty (due to the Iran conflict), I am unsure. Should landlords hold on or take advantage of current prices? MK, Dubai
Answer: This is a very timely question, and I suspect many owners are thinking similarly.
This is not the kind of market where every landlord should rush for the exit. A telling sign of late is that many owners are not panicking. They are reassessing, yes, but wholesale distress selling has not become the defining behaviour – and that matters.
Markets become truly vulnerable when owners stop thinking strategically and start reacting emotionally. Thankfully, we are not broadly there.
That said, whether you should sell now really comes down to one question: are you holding a strong asset, or simply hoping sentiment will rescue a weak one? Those are two very different situations.
If you own a well-located property in a sought-after community, with good rental demand and reasonable service charges, does it have a broad resale appeal? If yes, then there is a very strong argument for holding your position unless you have a personal reason to sell.
Quality assets tend to remain more resilient during uncertain times. They may take longer to sell and buyers may negotiate harder, but they are still the properties people ultimately look for.
However, if you own a unit in an oversupplied micro-market, an apartment with weak tenant demand, a property facing high service costs, or something you bought at an ambitious price on pure momentum, then it is time to assess your exposure.
Some landlords make the mistake of holding indefinitely, not because the asset is strong, but because they do not want to confront the possibility that the best time to exit might have passed. That is not a strategy. That is denial.
My advice to landlords would be: do not ask 'should I sell because the market feels uncertain?' Ask instead: 'Does my property still justify being held in a more selective market?' The latter leads to better decisions.
Q: I represent a group of investors and we are thinking that with everything happening in the region, is UAE property still a safe-haven investment, or has that idea now been properly tested? GR, Texas
A: If anything, this is exactly the kind of period in which the UAE’s safe-haven status is meant to be tested. Too often, people misunderstand what “safe haven” means. It does not mean immunity from fear. It does not mean no volatility and it certainly does not mean the market will rise uninterrupted regardless of what is happening around it.
What it does mean is that when uncertainty intensifies, the UAE tends to demonstrate a combination of qualities that investors continue to value very highly. These include political and institutional stability, strong infrastructure, speed of government response, legal and banking functionality, global connectivity, and a credible framework for residency, business and capital deployment.
That is why the UAE has remained attractive even through times of global and regional disruption. We have seen this pattern before.
In 2008, the UAE, and Dubai in particular, went through a painful correction. But what emerged from that period was a much more mature, more transparent and more regulated property ecosystem.
In 2020, the Covid pandemic created a sudden global freeze. But while many major cities took years to regain momentum, the UAE moved quickly, adapted rapidly, reopened intelligently and became one of the world’s most desirable relocation destinations.
That is the key point many international investors miss. The UAE’s strength has never been that it avoids disruption. Instead, the country tends to respond faster, stabilise quicker and reposition itself more effectively than many competing markets.
Of course, the current regional situation creates risk, but sophisticated investors do not ask whether risk exists. Risk always exists. They ask a more pertinent question: which markets are best equipped to absorb it and recover from it? And on that basis, the UAE still makes a very compelling case.
I'd say that the UAE’s safe-haven story has not been disproved by this moment. If anything, it is being stress-tested in real time and so far, it is holding up better than many assume from the outside.
The opinions expressed do not constitute legal advice and are provided for information only. Please send any questions to mariovolpi64@gmail.com
