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The sentiment on the ground is not what the headlines suggest. Dubai’s property professionals are not watching and waiting. They are moving.
April 21, 2026 | Staff Reporter | UAE | Developers
Dubai has weathered storms before and emerged stronger each time. But for real estate veteran Ashirwad Somani, Founder and Managing Partner at Velar LLC, the current global conditions represent a different kind of market moment, not a financial crisis, but as he characterises it, investors encountering a new kind of macro environment. In conversation with Jatin Deepchandani, CEO of Real Estate Market Times and host of The DeepTalks Podcast, he unpacks what investors and residents should make of the moment. The verdict? Measured, grounded, and surprisingly bullish.
For brokers and developers tracking buyer behaviour, that perspective matters. It is not simply an individual reading of the market but a sentiment being echoed across professional circles, transaction data, and client conversations across the emirate.
Of 20 investor conversations Somani had during the recent period of global market volatility, 19 were asking about opportunity, where the deals were, and how to take advantage, rather than looking to exit. Demand has not retreated; in many cases, it has sharpened. “I’ve not had one call from someone who’s looking to sell. That talks a lot about the confidence that people have in the leadership and the country itself,” he says.
This is not the behaviour of a market losing faith but of one recalibrating, distinguishing noise from signal, and positioning accordingly. For professionals on the ground, recognising that distinction early is what separates those who capitalise on the moment from those who simply wait it out. “People who are looking or keep waiting for more and more to happen will find themselves in a different situation,” Somani feels. For developers managing launch windows and brokers advising clients on timing, that assessment carries direct practical weight. The window for optimal positioning is narrow, and it is open now.
Somani’s read on risk is one the industry would do well to internalise. A market that has absorbed uncertainty is, paradoxically, a more stable one to operate in. Pricing adjustments create entry points, entry points drive volume, and volume sustains the broader ecosystem, supporting developers, brokers, and community managers in equal measure.
His reference point is 2014, when flexible payment structures at a time when the market was going through financial uncertainty, generated strong returns for those who moved decisively. “We are again in a time of caution. And there is an opportunity which will not present itself again,” Somani adds. Those best placed to serve their clients are the ones who can articulate that case with clarity and conviction rather than deferring to caution.
On the question of off-plan versus ready properties, Somani resists a blanket answer, a nuance that brokers advising across segments will recognise. He says that ready property gives you full cash deployment and no future liability concerns. But a smart investor who knows how to use leverage can actually play off-plan more advantageously right now than ever. The caveat, he adds, is that you need an extremely steady hand.
For those advising clients currently holding assets, his counsel is grounded in a principle he has long advocated. “You cannot tread very close to your boundaries. In the best times, people call that advice overly conservative. But in moments like this, that philosophy becomes more valuable and gets heard more,” he says.
One of the more counterintuitive observations Somani offers concerns Ras Al Khaimah. With the Wynn resort set to open next year and construction nearing completion, the economic trigger it represents remains firmly on track. Somani’s read is that the current climate may delay some incoming supply, which would leave the market undersupplied relative to the demand the Wynn will generate. For developers and brokers active in that market, the implication is straightforward: rental yields could outperform earlier projections precisely because supply tightens at the moment demand arrives.
Dubai’s underlying proposition, spanning governance, infrastructure, liveability, and long-term growth trajectory, remains not just intact but, for many professionals, more compelling than before. Somani frames Dubai’s long-term appeal in comparative terms. “People decided to leave their country and come here because that matrix was hugely skewed in favour of the UAE. Once that answer is established, that matrix will still be in favour of the UAE. That is my belief,” he says.
For trade professionals, this speaks directly to the durability of the market they operate in. A market that holds and continues to transact through a period of global uncertainty is one that has demonstrated something important about its own maturity and depth. As Somani notes, research into comparable global situations consistently points to rapid economic recovery in the aftermath. “Once conditions normalise, we will have a better sense of the ground we stand on. A lot of things are becoming clearer, but the conclusions will happen once this settles,” he adds.
Somani’s own position is unambiguous: “Long-term, I am very bullish. Short-term, I am very bullish on the opportunities that it will present. Ten on ten.” That conviction, widely shared across the professional community, is itself a market signal worth communicating clearly to every client, partner, and stakeholder in the months ahead.
“The reality on the ground is developing towards one direction only,
and that direction is not panic”Ashirwad Somani, Founder and Managing Partner at Velar LLC
