Re: Has Dubai/Mideast fever gripped your family or desi social circle yet?
amelie an interesting experience I saw firsthand was of a former boss of mine. he moved from US to UK for a few years, sold his home here, rented a place there, spent a number of years, came back to US and was in the south..moved back to east coast after a couple of years.
His main complaint, the real estate had moved so much faster than his salary and any additional savings allowances for him.
his exact words to me were " I can not afford to buy a house in my old nieghbourhood"
for people who want to live in US, i.e. come back to US after their expat assignments, especially in areas where real estate prices are rising thats another issue.
In the long run I am not sure how attractive it is if the bulk of whatever additional you saved ends up buying property at a higher price point than you would have bought had u stayed in US or as in my former boss' case
some craft folks sold their homes here, but bought rental condos and thus as real estate went up the condos did too and the issue with real estate prices going up while the person was abroad became less of an issue. even though the condos did not appreciate at the same rate as single family homes but it took away a lot of the pain.