Posted on 09/21/2006 8:02:27 PM PDT by GodGunsGuts
The worldwide rise in house prices is the biggest bubble in history. Prepare for the economic pain when it pops
NEVER before have real house prices risen so fast, for so long, in so many countries. Property markets have been frothing from America, Britain and Australia to France, Spain and China. Rising property prices helped to prop up the world economy after the stockmarket bubble burst in 2000. What if the housing boom now turns to bust?
According to estimates by The Economist, the total value of residential property in developed economies rose by more than $30 trillion over the past five years, to over $70 trillion, an increase equivalent to 100% of those countries' combined GDPs. Not only does this dwarf any previous house-price boom, it is larger than the global stockmarket bubble in the late 1990s (an increase over five years of 80% of GDP) or America's stockmarket bubble in the late 1920s (55% of GDP). In other words, it looks like the biggest bubble in history.
(Excerpt) Read more at economist.com ...
ping
Which is why when this goes south, the hole it makes in the ground will be a big one.
Isn't it a F.R. rule that "ex-Texan" needs to post such items?
Couldn't help but laugh. Your comment is sad, but true--GGG
LOL! I run the evening shift :o)
A bit of a world wide recession at least IMO.
In case you missed it, mortgage rates hit a 7-month low today, and new loans and refis had their biggest spike in 5 months. Activity in NYC has really picked up in September (I know, NYC is "different", but still)
Gloom and Doom is Fun
Activity in NYC is a lot of European money and midwestern/southern money. These are the guys who traditionally get burned...
I saw that. There will come a point where it won't matter how much they lower rates. When Japan's real estate market tanked, they were offering loans at zero percent and there were still no takers.
Or just plain common sense.
Bubbles are fascinating. They are the nexus where economics meet human nature.
Why didn't you say this article is from June 16, 2005?
BTW, gold might be rebounding right here and now. It could take another dip, but the odds that it will start its next leg up increase with each passing day (especially this time of year :o)
PS Picked up 7 more bars at $578.
http://www.kitco.com/images/live/gold.gif
Japan had a problem where banks couldn't offer any loans because they never wrote off bad loans.
Not really. Did you see today's N.Y. Post REAL ESTATE section?
I only read Page Six in the Post. What did the RE section say? (I'm kidding, I just didn't see the post today)
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