Housing prices dropped in China for the seventh straight month in March as the government took measures to cool the market. Industry insiders such as Anton
Eilers of Richard Ellis are confidently proclaiming that prices
will not crash, but others, such as billionaire Hedge fund investor Jim
Chanos disagree.
If you have yet to see pictures of one of China's ghost cities, it's absolutely incredible that so much money could be poured into such a massive project. The
Kangbashi district of
Ordos, Inner Mongolia is absolutely gorgeous, with enough housing to
accommodate over 1 million people . There's only one problem- no one lives there. The city was built and sold off to property investors, who have subsequently seen their property values drop.
This has some parallels to a property boom in Florida in the 1920's. Out of state investors bought properties in Florida only to see their investments go belly up in 1925. The expression "if you believe that, I have some swamp land in Florida for you" is a remnant of that housing crash. The Chinese may soon have a similar expression "if you believe that I have a house in Inner Mongolia for you."
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