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Article: Flimsy foundations; The global housing market.(House prices)
- Article from:
- The Economist (US)
- Article date:
- December 11, 2004
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2004 Economist Newspaper Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Residential-property prices are now falling in Britain and Australia, but have taken off in America and France
IN THE past three years, the total value of residential property in developed economies has increased by an estimated $20 trillion, to over $60 trillion. Granted, that increase is partly explained by the decline in the dollar; still, it is double the $10 trillion by which global share values climbed in the three years to 1999. Is this the biggest financial bubble in history?
The growing impact of housing markets on economies prompted The Economist to launch its global house-price indices in early 2002; these now cover 20 countries, using data ...