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Dubai: Home prices in the UAE could begin easing in 2026 as tens of thousands of new apartments and villas hit the market, according to a new report from Moody’s Ratings. For residents, that could mean more choice, steadier rents, and a less overheated housing market.

What residents can expect

Moody’s says over 150,000 new homes are scheduled for delivery between 2025 and 2027. That’s about a 20% jump in Dubai’s housing stock. The report forecasts this wave of supply will lead to “a modest price correction starting in 2026.”

For buyers, that may mean more bargaining power. For renters, it could mean relief after years of steep rent increases.

Why demand remains high

The dip won’t come from weak demand. Dubai’s population grew 6% in 2024 to 3.9 million, supported by economic growth and new visa policies. At the same time, household sizes are shrinking — now averaging 3.9 people compared with 4.4 in 2019 — pushing up the need for more housing units.

Wealthy newcomers are reshaping the market too. Dubai is now home to more than 80,000 millionaires, double the number of a decade ago. In the first quarter of 2025 alone, over 590 homes priced above Dh20 million were sold, the highest in two years.

This mix of population growth and high-net-worth arrivals means demand is unlikely to collapse. Moody’s describes the outlook as “stable over the next 12 to 18 months, supported by strong demand fundamentals and macroeconomic resilience.”

Apartments vs villas

The type of home matters. Villas have been the big winners since the pandemic, with prices climbing 20% in late 2024 compared with the year before. Apartments rose 18% in the same period.

Moody’s expects villa demand to stay strong in the near term but warns growth will slow as more communities are delivered. Apartments, especially in mid-market areas, may see sharper price declines once supply outpaces demand.

For buyers, that could mean better deals on flats. For families, villas will remain pricey but with less aggressive increases.

Developers stronger than before

One reason residents may feel more secure this time is that developers are financially stronger.

• Emaar’s revenue backlog has soared to Dh129 billion in 2025 from Dh25 billion in 2020.

• Major builders have slashed their debt levels, with average leverage dropping to 1.4x in 2025 from 4.8x in 2020.

• Combined profits for the six biggest developers reached Dh46 billion in the past year, up from Dh12 billion five years earlier.

Moody’s says this means builders can keep projects moving, even if prices soften.

Rules that protect buyers

The past decade has also seen big regulatory changes to protect residents. Off-plan buyers’ money must now be placed in escrow accounts, only released to developers once construction milestones are reached. Developers also face stricter launch requirements, ensuring land and approvals are secured before sales begin.

Moody’s says these reforms “help safeguard buyers but also support long-term growth by mitigating systemic risks.”

In Sharjah, a new escrow law will take effect this year, bringing protections closer in line with Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

What it means for you

• Thinking of buying? Expect more choice and potentially softer prices from 2026.

• Renting? Extra supply could ease the pressure on rents, especially in apartments.

• Investing? Villas and luxury homes remain in demand, but competition is growing fast.

Moody’s sums it up: despite rising supply, the UAE housing market “will remain stable” — giving residents more security, whether they’re renters, buyers, or long-term investors.

ACCRA, Sept 10 (Reuters) – Ghana has agreed to accept West African nationals deported from the United States and 14 have already arrived in the country, President John Dramani Mahama told reporters late Wednesday.

U.S. President Donald Trump has taken a hardline approach toward immigration, aiming to deport millions of immigrants who are in the U.S. illegally and seeking to ramp up removals to third countries.

A group of 14 deportees including Nigerians and one Gambian have already arrived in Ghana, and the government facilitated their return to their home countries, Mahama said at a press conference.

Mahama did not specify a cap on how many deportees Ghana would accept. He justified the decision by saying West Africans “don’t need a visa anyway” to come to Ghana.

“We were approached by the U.S. to accept third-party nationals who were being removed from the U.S., and we agreed with them that West African nationals were acceptable because all our fellow West Africans don’t need a visa to come to our country,” he said.

The Trump administration has approached a number of African governments about accepting deportees as part of its campaign to deter immigration through high-profile deportations to so-called “third countries.” In some cases migrants have voiced concerns for their safety.

In July the U.S. deported five individuals to Eswatini and eight others to South Sudan.

Rwanda received seven migrants deported from the United States in August, weeks after the two countries reached an agreement for the transfer of up to 250 people.

Trump welcomed five West African presidents to the White House on July 9, and sources later told Reuters that one of the objectives of that meeting was to press the leaders to take in deportees from other countries.

Mahama did not participate in that meeting.

(Reporting by Emmanuel Bruce; Writing by Robbie Corey-Boulet; Additional reporting by Anait Miridzhanian; Editing by Nia Williams and Kim Coghill)

 by Faith Yahaya, Abuja

Aero Contractors has refunded over N257 million to passengers from January to August 2025. 

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The refund is believed to arise from flight delays, cancellations, and baggage issues. 
The amount refunded in the last eight months indicates an increase in refunds, representing a 137% growth compared to the same period in 2024. 

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In a statement, the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) stated that the refund showcases the airline’s commitment to consumer protection and compliance with the NCAA regulations.

The airline has also spent over N6m on hotel accommodations for stranded passengers between January and July 2025.

The statement by the NCAA reads: “Total refund paid January – August 2025 = 257,195,724.39 naira, compared to 108,308,037.40 naira over the same period in 2024 and 32,766,652.30 naira in 2023.
“For hotel accommodation, the total amount reported from January to July 2025 is N6,083,229. (verified records with Cocos Hotel, Grand Cubana Hotel, Abuja, NOCY Castle Hotel, Kim Royal Hotel, JC42 Apartment (Asaba), and Mayor & Diplomat Hotel, Lagos).

The NCAA stated that the figures show remarkable improvement in compliance with Part 19 of the NCAA Regulations 2023. 

While acknowledging the peculiar challenges of the operating environment, the Authority stated that it will continue to protect the rights of all stakeholders.

Sept 15 (Reuters) – The International Monetary Fund’s Executive Board has approved a three-month extension of Zambia’s Extended Credit Facility (ECF) arrangement, the fund said on Monday.

The IMF said in a statement that the extension to January 30, 2026 would allow sufficient time to complete a sixth review of the ECF arrangement and “lay the groundwork for future programme engagement”.

Sept 15 (Reuters) – The International Monetary Fund’s Executive Board has approved a three-month extension of Zambia’s Extended Credit Facility (ECF) arrangement, the fund said on Monday.

The IMF said in a statement that the extension to January 30, 2026 would allow sufficient time to complete a sixth review of the ECF arrangement and “lay the groundwork for future programme engagement”.

ACCRA, Sept 15 (Reuters) – Ghana’s decision to accept West Africans deported from the United States is not an endorsement of President Donald Trump’s immigration policy, and the country is not receiving anything in return, the foreign minister said on Monday.

President John Dramani Mahama last week said Ghana had agreed to welcome an unspecified number of deportees after Washington asked it to take in “third-party nationals.” Mahama said 14 had already arrived, including Nigerians and one Gambian.

A U.S. judge on Saturday said it appeared the Trump administration had intentionally circumvented immigration laws with its deportations to Ghana.

At a press conference on Monday, Ghana Foreign Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa said Accra’s decision was “grounded purely on humanitarian principle and Pan-African empathy,” adding the deportees in question were being held in detention in the U.S. and risked being sent to unsafe countries.

“This should not be misconstrued as an endorsement of the immigration policies of the Trump administration,” he said.

The agreement is “not transactional” and Ghana “has not received and does not seek any financial compensation or material benefit in relation to this understanding,” he said.

The deportees will be vetted by Ghana to ensure that “hardened criminals” do not enter the country, he added.

The deportations are part of Trump’s strategy to send migrants to “third countries” to speed their removal and pressure migrants in the U.S. illegally to leave.

Opposition lawmakers in Ghana last week called for the agreement with the U.S. to be suspended and said it should have been approved by parliament.

Ablakwa said on Monday it was a memorandum of understanding that did not require lawmakers’ approval, but that lawmakers will be able to review it if it is “elevated into a full-blown agreement.”

The United States has been revoking and denying visas to people celebrating the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, according to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

"America will not host foreigners who celebrate the death of our fellow citizens," Rubio said in a post on X on Tuesday.

"Visa revocations are under way. If you are here on a visa and cheering on the public assassination of a political figure, prepare to be deported," he added.

Rubio's post followed a similar warning last week by US Deputy Secretary of State Christoper Landau.

"I want to underscore that foreigners who glorify violence and hatred are not welcome visitors to our country," Landau wrote on social media.

"I have been disgusted to see some on social media praising, rationalising, or making light of the event, and have directed our consular officials to undertake appropriate action," he added.

It is unclear how many visas have been revoked or denied, or on what grounds the State Department is taking such action. It also remains clear whether any European citizens were affected by Washington's latest policy.

Kirk, 31, was shot dead on 10 September while speaking to students at Utah Valley University. The suspect, 22-year-old Tyler Robinson, was taken into custody on Friday after a 33-hour manhunt.

Prosecutors brought a murder charge against Robinson on Tuesday. They allege that he shot Kirk in the neck with a bolt-action rifle from the roof of a nearby building on campus.

Following the fatal shooting, US conservatives have criticised people who disparaged Kirk or mocked his death.

Several individuals in sectors such as aviation, education and the media have lost their jobs or been suspended over their social media posts about Kirk, according to reports.

For example, US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said over the weekend that American Airlines had grounded pilots who he said were celebrating Kirk's death.

"This behaviour is disgusting and they should be fired," Duffy said in a post on X.

The Trump administration's threats to crack down on what it calls the "radical left" after Kirk's assassination raised fears that the US right is trying to harness anger over the killing to suppress political opposition.

US Attorney General Pam Bondi has blamed "left-wing radicals" for the shooting and said "they will be held accountable".

"There's free speech and then there's hate speech," Bondi said in an interview this week.

"We will absolutely target you, go after you, if you are targeting anyone with hate speech."

Her interview quickly drew criticism from commentators on both the left and the right, who highlighted that there is no exception for hate speech under the First Amendment.

(Bloomberg) -- President Donald Trump signed a proclamation Friday that would move to extensively overhaul the H-1B visa program, requiring a $100,000 fee for applications in a bid to curb overuse.

The proclamation requires the payment and asserts that abuse of the H-1B pathway has displaced US workers. The proclamation restricts entry under the H-1B program unless accompanied by the payment.

The move will require a “$100,000 payment to accompany or supplement H-1B petitions for new applications,” according to a White House fact sheet. That payment would be in addition to current fees, which are more modest. Fees directly tied to the H-1B visa application currently include a $215 fee to register for the lottery alongside various filing fees.

Bloomberg News earlier reported on the administration’s plans to require the fee for applicants.

Trump’s proclamation allows for case-by-case exemptions if in the national interest — opening a potential window for certain companies or industries to seek a workaround from the new fee.

Trump also plans to order the Labor Secretary to undertake a rulemaking process to revise prevailing-wage levels for the H-1B program — a move intended to limit the use of visas to undercut wages that would otherwise be paid to American workers.

Accenture, Cognizant Technology and other IT consulting stocks hit session lows on Friday on the news of the visa fee.

The move is the latest immigration reform by the Trump administration and will affect the technology industry in particular, as it relies heavily on H-1Bs. The administration argues that the revisions will bring more certainty to legitimate filings under the program by weeding out abuses.

Big Take: H-1B Middlemen Bring Cheap Labor to Citi, Capital One

Trump brushed off a question about whether technology company executives would be concerned with the action.

“I think they’re going to be very happy. Everyone’s going to be happy. And we’re going to be able to keep people in our country that are going to be very productive people,” Trump said on Friday. “And in many cases these companies are going to pay a lot of money for that and they’re very happy about it.”

In the fact sheet, the White House said American workers are being replaced with lower-paid foreign labor and called it a national security threat. The dynamic is suppressing wages and disincentivizing Americans from choosing careers in STEM fields, the White House said.

H-1B visas are awarded based on a lottery system, but Bloomberg News has reported previously that flaws in the system created loopholes that some employers have exploited by flooding the lottery with entries. The US in recent years has changed the lottery process in a bid to reduce the ability to game its outcomes, and the Trump administration is weighing further changes to the way applications are considered.

Explained: Understanding the Debate Over the H-1B Visa

Unlike large tech firms, these companies often use the visa program to hire lower-paid workers — and do so indirectly, through staffing and outsourcing companies that have previously been able to capture about half of the 85,000 new visas allocated each year.

The administration’s policy shift unfolds alongside a wave of fee increases for work permits, asylum applications and humanitarian protections stipulated in the president’s tax bill, in a bid to raise revenue to pay for funding for new detention centers, hiring thousands of immigration agents, and expanding border wall construction.

Immigration, one of Trump’s key campaign issues, has been a source of division among key factions of his base. Last winter, that rift spilled into the public, with Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, who were tapped to run a government efficiency effort, arguing on social media with more conservative members of the MAGA base on the importance of H-1B visas. Musk and Ramaswamy have argued that US companies needed to recruit top talent from across the world to remain competitive. Trump largely stayed out of the fight.

But Trump’s legal and illegal immigration crackdown has already started to impact population and economic projections. Economists have already questioned whether tighter US immigration controls are undercutting US job growth, and a recent CBO estimate projected higher inflation and unemployment this year and slower economic growth, in part because of lower net immigration due to his policies.

US Citizenship and Immigration Services Director Joseph Edlow, who was confirmed in July, has outlined plans to curb work authorization for immigrants, and said USCIS officers would be encouraged to apply tougher scrutiny to those seeking benefits.

Speaking at an event at the National Press Club earlier this month, Edlow said that the H-1B system with the proper scrutiny and monitoring “can be a useful tool,” especially for employers and high wage earners.

“But my big concern – and it will always be my big concern – is keeping US citizens – the way that it’s keeping U.S. citizens out of the job market, especially those graduating from universities with STEM degrees and their being kept out because employers are able to get higher – more experienced individuals at lower wage rates using the current four-tier wage levels.”

Traditionally, changes to fee structures come out of USCIS regulations that require notice-and-comment rulemaking or legislation passed by Congress.

--With assistance from Marie Patino.

(Updates with additional detail throughout)

Yun Li

Key Points

• President Donald Trump late Friday announced plans to impose a $100,000 fee on H-1B visas.
• >span class="react-share__ShareButton">Amazon employed the most H-1B holders — more than 14,000 as of the end of June.
• Microsoft, Meta, Apple and Google are also among the top 10 recipients for the fiscal year 2025.

Major technology companies and foreign governments are rushing to respond after President Donald Trump late Friday announced plans to impose a $100,000 fee on H-1B visas, threatening to upend the program that underpins America’s technology workforce.

The fee would apply to new H-1B applicants, not renewals or current visa holders, according to a White House official. It will first apply in the upcoming lottery cycle, and it does not apply to 2025 lottery winners, the person said. The White House also clarified that the new $100,000 fee is not an annual charge, as previously reported by several media outlets.

CNBC has reached out to all of the public companies on the top 10 H-1B recipient list for comment. The White House didn’t immediately respond to an email asking for comment.

“President Trump promised to put American workers first, and this commonsense action does just that by discouraging companies from spamming the system and driving down wages,” Taylor Rogers, a White House spokeswoman, told CNBC. “It also gives certainty to American businesses who actually want to bring high-skilled workers to our great country but have been trampled on by abuses of the system.”

‘Humanitarian consequences’

The announcement also disrupted the status quo overseas, where foreign governments scrambled to assess the impact of the new rules on their countries.

India’s Ministry of External Affairs said it is studying the visa restrictions and their implications, stressing that both Indian and U.S. industries share an interest in maintaining competitiveness in innovation. It also highlighted the likely disruption to individual families.

“This measure is likely to have humanitarian consequences by way of the disruption caused for families. Government hopes that these disruptions can be addressed suitably by the US authorities,” India’s Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement.

South Korea’s foreign ministry also said it is assessing the implications for Korean firms and skilled workers.

Below is a searchable list of the top 100 U.S. companies that have been H1-B recipients in fiscal year 2025.

The move could deal a massive blow to companies – primarily in the technology and finance sectors – that rely heavily on highly skilled immigrants, particularly from India and China.

The announcement sent shockwaves through some of the country’s biggest tech and finance companies:

• Amazon’s immigration team advised its H-1B and H-4 visa holders to remain in the U.S. and for those overseas to return before 12:01 a.m. ET on Sept. 21, according to internal messages viewed by CNBC.
• JPMorgan Chase’s law firm sent a memo asking H-1B visa holders at the firm to remain in the U.S. and avoid international travel until further guidance, according to a person familiar with the matter.
• Goldman Sachs told employees holding H-1B visas to exercise caution when traveling internationally based on guidance from immigration services firm Fragomen, according to an internal memo seen by Reuters.
• Microsoft also has reportedly advised H-1B visa holders to remain in the U.S. and for those overseas to return, warning that international travel could jeopardize their immigration status, according to emails seen by Reuters.

The fee represents the administration’s most aggressive move yet to restrict legal immigration. Since taking office in January, Trump has advanced a broad crackdown on both illegal and legal entry into the U.S., but Friday’s announcement marks the most significant attempt to clamp down on employment visas.

Amazon employed the most H-1B holders – more than 14,000 as of the end of June. Microsoft, Meta, Apple and Google had over 4,000 such visas each, among the top 10 recipients for the fiscal year 2025.

CNBC has reached out to all of the public companies on the top 10 H-1B recipient list for comment. The White House didn’t immediately respond to an email asking for comment.

“President Trump promised to put American workers first, and this commonsense action does just that by discouraging companies from spamming the system and driving down wages,” Taylor Rogers, a White House spokeswoman, told CNBC. “It also gives certainty to American businesses who actually want to bring high-skilled workers to our great country but have been trampled on by abuses of the system.”

‘Humanitarian consequences’

The announcement also disrupted the status quo overseas, where foreign governments scrambled to assess the impact of the new rules on their countries.

India’s Ministry of External Affairs said it is studying the visa restrictions and their implications, stressing that both Indian and U.S. industries share an interest in maintaining competitiveness in innovation. It also highlighted the likely disruption to individual families.

“This measure is likely to have humanitarian consequences by way of the disruption caused for families. Government hopes that these disruptions can be addressed suitably by the US authorities,” India’s Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement.

South Korea’s foreign ministry also said it is assessing the implications for Korean firms and skilled workers.

Below is a searchable list of the top 100 U.S. companies that have been H1-B recipients in fiscal year 2025.