Hi Lacey,
Yes, renting sucks but expats are only allowed to buy houses in the more upscale areas. The Pearl is a huge land-reclamation project that is going to have luxury homes/apts on it. It's not ready yet. I think the West Bay area, which is where The Pearl is, is the only other area that we can buy houses. Just for fun - if you want to see what a really nice compound looks like check out http://www.alfardanrealestate.com/gardens.htm and
http://www.alfardanrealestate.com/laguna.htm

:)