Yes... the climate is horrendous and the government is just as bad.
Are you aware of the debt they have?
Singapore and Hong Kong have limited land available for purchase, which causes it to be worth more. There's no room for expansion. Dubai has an entire desert to expand into, there's not going to be any rise in property prices there due to a land shortage.
Singapore and Hong Kong also have more tolerable governments (in most aspects), and much better climates.
That's why I said, there's going to be a ton of connection traffic, but not much O/D traffic. The only thing that is going to make them money is travel and trade, but when they are eventually bypassed by direct flights on faster or more fuel efficient aircraft, what then? Or what happens when the world economy goes down the tank once China stops growing? DXB is basing their entire economy on volatility, and it will have some serious consequences.
I think LAS is a craphole, but everyone I've talked to abroad wants to go...
It figures in, because LAS has a tourism economy, like DXB is trying to build, but likely won't succeed with. The only reason why I'd want to go to Dubai is to save some money on a ticket by connecting there or something...
Respectfully, I disagree. And you're still missing the point:
1. Dubai property values are on their way down, which makes this a bad time to buy period.
2. Dubai does not have a land shortage to cause prices to go back up any time soon.
3. Dubai doesn't have much potential for growth beyond their trade/travel industry.
Those three reasons alone indicate that property value there won't recover for a long long time.
It's basic economics, there's tons of supply, with not much demand or foreseeable demand.