The cost of canceling projects in Dubai has builders continuing to work even in the face of a residential and commercial property glut, BloombergBusinessweek reported.

In the next two years, tens of thousands of new properties will come onto a market where about 40 percent of homes and offices are already empty, BloombergBusinessweek said.

Some developers have chosen to complete projects started before Dubai’s property market collapsed instead of canceling them and facing a legal obligation to return all advance payments to customers. Falling construction costs and low interest rates also provide an incentive to build now rather than wait for property values to increase.

Home buyers in Dubai, part of the United Arab Emirates, typically put down 10 percent up front and pay further installments based on how much work is completed. That means a developer that sold a home before the crash in 2008 and collected 50 percent of the price so far would have to pay back more than the property’s current market value if the project were canceled, BloombergBusinessweek said.

Demand may increase as political turmoil in Mideastern and North African countries, including Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Bahrain, prompts companies to move staff to more stable places such as Dubai, says Matthew Green, head of United Arab Emirates research at CB Richard Ellis Group Inc., a commercial real estate firm.

Dubai was the fastest-growing property market from 2006 to mid-2008 because of rising demand from a growing expatriate work force and speculation fueled by borrowing. Prices quadrupled in the six years following the 2002 decision to allow foreign ownership of property in designated areas. After the financial crisis in 2008, about 50 percent of Dubai real estate projects were canceled or halted.