Thursday 30 July 2009

HONG KONG'S "BUBBLE"

Property cycles in many parts of the world may be J-shaped, V-shaped or W-shaped, but in Hong Kong it defies all letter shapes. Here, the zig-zag lines that appear on an earthquake detector graph when a 6.7 is recorded are more apt, because its property market goes up and down so fast and to such extremes.

The 20 per cent rebound in property prices since the start of the year has wiped out the losses incurred in 2008. Some commentators are sanguine about this, but others fear a bubble may be forming. Mortgage brokers say demand is being fuelled by investors with unrealistic expectations of future gains and who have ignored the Hong Kong's deep recession and unemployment problems.

Its economy is forecast to contract by 9 per cent this year. Should that become 10 per cent then Hong Kong would officially be in an economic depression. Expect more zig-zagging.

(All The World's a Home : Global Property News)

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