Tuesday 9 March 2010

this time it's different



One of the main things that economic gurus like me look out for as a danger sign of a bubble is people saying 'this time it's different.' Here, be still your beating hearts, is a feature on house prices in Beijing. I might not have clicked on the link had this blog's Beijing correspondent not described the bubbly nature of Chinese real estate over library coffee a couple of week's ago. Some highlights:
Despite the fear of a bubble here, Mr. Tong said his prices were just right, particularly because of so much hidden wealth in China...

Tomson’s prices are soaring. The most recent apartment sold for about $2,300 a square foot. The average luxury apartment in Manhattan sold for just under $1,900 a square foot in the fourth quarter of 2009, according to Prudential Douglas Elliman real estate.

Indeed, for the price of a Tomson apartment in Shanghai, a buyer could easily purchase a 6,000-square-foot home in Los Angeles built by Frank Lloyd Wright and now for sale ($10.5 million), or a 52-acre site with a 22-room residence in New Canaan, Conn. ($24 million).

But a sales agent at Tomson Riviera says this is the future financial capital of the world, not the dying one
Hmm. I wonder what a sales agent at Tomson Riviera would have to gain from... But I'll stop. The Chinese government is nervous, but it's making a fortune from the sales, and we can all use all the fortunes we can get, even if we are the Chinese government. I'm sure everything will be fine.

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