the one that cracked me up when I was a little kid was East Germany and West Germany, I mean, that is really splitting hairs
you would think some congressman would come up with an idea to preserve North and South Korea as some kind of International Museum to Man Made Borders, and the USA could fund the whole thing.
Which gives me an idea. Maybe they should just redraw a couple of lines a few hundred miles. The immediate jump in median housing prices should act as a great stimulus. It sure couldn't do worse than the printing press!
we could pay people to act impoverished, and cower in fear whenever they were forced to act reverently towards their dictator. The whole thing would make for great theatre, and could be a tourist attraction. It's just a matter of getting Disney on board to invest in "Capitalist World."
why not? We are trading partners. We'll trade you some real estate for health care and some GDP, in exchange for lower housing prices (of course, that doesn't include North Dakota, we need it when people start complaining that all the news is too pessemistic.) Why stop there? Just give Mexico a few hundred miles every time we need more unskilled labor? The whole thing could become like a movable feast.
You find a way you let me know. Myself and others of like mind have been looking for a vehicle for forever to not only offset asset risk but to also take specs on falling prices. There is no 'Canadian housing futures' unfortunately. On the ground in 604, I wouldn't be surprised on these rates being right. In Vancouver city proper, there is generally 2 main divisions, west of main and east of main. East of main is being bid by locals and 2nd gen immigrants, whereas west of main is primarily foreign (china) nationals that have pushed out the locals. There is a strong corr between west of main prices and FXI. Vancouver condos are like the NINJA loans of MBS. There are select properties selling >70% off of peak asking and these are high end luxury types. Those in the know and with cash are waiting and those that hold RE are notably stressed.
that's the main point real estate bust late 70s early 80s. a recession/depression saw unemployment above 20% in Vacouver and higher elsewhere in BC. real estate boom in Toronto and tradesmen moved there for employment, and later in the late 80's early 90's some Torontonians were selling their properties for large sums, moving here and Victoria to buy 'cheap' homes and make large deposits in the banks with still rela- tively high interest rates. in between was the stock market rally - 82 and crash 87 then rally again. in the Lower Mainland primarily Chinese, what ? investors ? were going to open houses with their pockets full of cash buying, out-bidding if need be All the properties available for sale, and some acting as agents buying a dozen or more at a time. that was the start of 'how can 'we' - our children afford to buy a home' and Vancouver being christened Hongcouver the play on Hong Kong since that's where so many of the Chinese buyers originated today many condo buildings are sold out particularly in Toronto based on the plans and artist renditions before the building is built. the out-of-country buyers are likely increasing given the China boom. some condos are owner-resident only some do allow renting. the fact that 'many' condos appear empty means nothing in terms of 'investment' or the owner doesn't at this time choose to occupy or that there's a bust underway in the real estate market 2-3 months ago the Vancouver median price single family home topped $1,000,000 China's housing story is different, what China has accomplished in what, 30 years took the West 200 years to accomplish. if the US is supposed to have the world's largest economy, what's it say to the country that has a population three times greater than the US the UK went thru a huge property boom in the 80s, Australia this past decade so there's always a boom bust cycle with 'housing' as supply catches up with population demand, falls off then picks up again remember that a few decades ago real interest rates were at 21% , they're at 0% now
make people live like communists, until there is no more money, and then release them to be capitalists? seems to be working for China
if we could just figure out a way to clean it up without all the messy executions (makes for bad publicity)