As vaccines roll out unevenly worldwide and waves of infections force countries to extend restrictions, foreign buyers flush with cash have flooded Dubai’s high-end property market, one of the few places in the world where they can dine, shop, and do business in person.

After nearly 30 years in London, Christophe Reech was fed up with the city's pandemic lockdowns. This spring, he sold his luxury townhouse and jetted off to the desert sheikhdom of Dubai to start a new life with his family. There was no turning back, he said.

The French business magnate's super-wealthy foreign friends were doing the same, driving an unprecedented surge in sales of Dubai's most exclusive properties. "Here in Dubai, there's only one strategy: Business as usual," said Reech, the chairman of an eponymous group that owns real estate and financial technology companies. The philosophy is simple: "Let's make sure everyone's vaccinated and keep everything open." "Of course that attracts people like me," he said.

Prices in some top-end areas rose as much as 40 percent, according to Property Finder, the country's largest real-estate website. A record-breaking 90 properties worth 10 million dirhams each (USD 2.7 million) changed hands last month, on top of 84 in March, surpassing heights hit eight years ago, according to real estate consultancy Property Monitor. For comparison, there were 54 such transactions in all of 2020.

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