Now that the rush to comment in the media on the successful foreclosure action by Barclays under the Dubai Mortgage Law of 2008 has quietened down, it is worth considering to what extent, if any, this has changed the position of expatriate property buyers in Dubai.

One frequent comment made immediately following the court judgment was that this would give lenders (ie the banks) more confidence to lend to expatriate property buyers. This comment may be relevant to new buyers in today's market where prices are not continually rising, but does not seem to be relevant to the large number of buyers who borrowed during the days of the property boom in Dubai.

Indeed, for existing buyers it may be that the importance of the Barclays decision has been exaggerated. This is because many existing loans taken by expatriates to buy property in Dubai were taken under Islamic financing structures.