Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway moves into Dubai despite property slump

The real estate affiliate of billionaire investor Warren Buffett`s Berkshire Hathaway Inc said on Sunday it will expand its brokerage operations into the Middle East by opening an office in Dubai. It said it also plans to open a second United Arab Emirates office in Abu Dhabi "within a year".

Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Gulf Properties will be led by Chairman Ihsan Husein Al Marzouqi and Chief Executive Officer Phil Sheridan, a company statement said. They will have a team of 30 advisers and support staff.  "Dubai has been a top priority for our network`s global expansion as it represents innovation among world leaders and is a top global center for trade, logistics, tourism and finance," said Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Chairman, Gino Blefari. 

The company`s expansion into Dubai comes despite a downturn which has seen property prices fall by more than a quarter from a peak in mid-2014, hurting earnings of the emirate`s top developers and forcing construction and engineering firms to cut jobs and halt expansion plans.

S&P Global Ratings said in February Dubai residential property prices will fall another 5-10 percent this year due to a continued gap between supply and demand, before steadying in 2020.

House prices in the highly diversified economy of Dubai in 2009-2010 plunged more than 50 percent from their peak. This forced Dubai to seek a $20 billion bailout from oil-rich Abu Dhabi to escape a debt crisis, which had threatened to force some state-linked companies to default on billions of dollars of debt.