类型:英语阅读
时间:2021-09-02
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Sales of
costly homes have been
booming in the
Middle Eastern city of Dubai
during the coronavirus
health crisis.
People from
Europe and the
United States have been
moving to the city,
which is one of the
United Arab Emirates. They say it is
because the city
follows a "business as
usual"
policy.
Christophe Reech is a
wealthy French businessman who
lived in
London for
nearly 30
years. But when
Britain put in
place restrictions because of COVID-19, he
decided it was time to
leave.
In Dubai, he said, the plan for
dealing with the
virus is
simple: "Let's make sure everyone's
vaccinated and keep
everything open."
"Of
course that
attracts people like me," he said.
The U.A.E. is
mainly using a
vaccine from
China to
protect people from the
virus. The
country has a
population of
about 9
million and has
provided over 10
million vaccine doses so far.
Other vaccines from Pfizer and AstraZeneca are also
available.
Dubai
reopened to
tourists last
summer. It had a
sharp increase in
virus cases in
January. But,
unlike some
countries, not very many
people in the U.A.E. died.
The
country used to be a
place for rich
people from the
Middle East and
Africa. Now
people are
coming from
places like
China,
Russia,
India and
Europe. One
reason is that it is easy to get
vaccinated.
Reech was able to get an
appointment for the Pfizer
vaccine as soon as he
arrived. In
London, the
waiting list was four
months long.
It is also easy for
foreigners to get
permission to live in the U.A.E. The
country is
offering visas for
people who are able to work using the
internet.
In the past, some westerners
worried about moving to Dubai
because of its
Islamic laws. But
recently the
country changed its
rules to
permit people from
other parts of the
world to
observe some of
their own laws and
traditions. For
example, it used to be
illegal for men and
women who were not
married to live
together.
These changes made some
people think about moving to Dubai: a busy city with
beaches, bars, restaurants and tall
buildings on the
Persian Gulf.
In
March, a home in one of the city's rich
neighborhoods was sold to a
family from
Switzerland for over $30
million. Less
costly homes are
being bought at
record rates.
Ninety homes worth over $2
million changed hands in
April.
But
there are some
signs that the
housing boom is
ending.
Prices for
space in the Burj
Khalifa, the world's
tallest building, have
fallen nearly 70
percent from
their height in 2013.
Prices are
falling in
other buildings, too.
Home
sales experts say
there are now too many
places to live in Dubai. Jackie Johns is a home
sales expert. She said the "boom time ... can run too
quickly and it all
falls apart."
Matthew Cooke
works for a
business that
sells costly homes. He said
people are
buying without thinking too much
about the
future.
Robert Mogielnicki
studies the
Middle East at the Arab Gulf
States Institute in
Washington, D.C.
He said a
property boom does not
usually hurt rich
people. If the
market changes, they are in a good
position.
"The
people who lose out are on the
lower end," Mogielnicki said.
I'm Dan Friedell.
Isabel Debre
wrote this
story for the
Associated Press. Dan Friedell
adapted it for
Learning English.
Mario Ritter, Jr. was the
editor.
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