Social media debate over apartment prices in Riga and Dubai

A Latvian user named Dace has started a discussion on the social network Threads about property prices in Riga and in Dubai, a city in the United Arab Emirates. She claims that an apartment in Dubai's second row from the waterfront, fully finished and equipped, costs less per square metre than an apartment in central Riga without appliances or furnishings.

She went on to write that for the price of one apartment by the Latvian seaside, two apartments in the first line along the Persian Gulf could be bought in Dubai. The post itself offers no specific data to back these claims, and some commenters found the comparison absurd.

Commenters' views

One user said property is more expensive in many European capitals, claiming that a 40 m² apartment in central Stockholm costs 18,000 euros per square metre, and that Vilnius and Tallinn are pricier than Riga. Another noted that in Amsterdam about 650,000 euros buys only a 60-square-metre apartment. A further commenter added that fuel in the Emirates is cheaper than in Latvia.

Some participants criticised Dubai, citing the extremely hot climate, with +45 °C by day and 3 °C at night, dependence on oil revenue, and working conditions in construction. Dace responded to the latter criticism by asking why, given that Riga also has plenty of foreign labour, nobody takes advantage of it there. One woman wrote that even lower prices would not tempt her and she would stay in Riga. Another woman countered that the heat in Dubai is becoming less severe.

The thread also included jokes, for instance that there is no daily transport from Dubai to a job in central Riga or to Mazpisāni.