Zeev's Turnips Patch-No Politics (ZEEV)

[marketmaven]

Lex: Shanghai property prices rise 5% PER MONTH !
(Thanks Joe, good point but still amazing...)
Published:/ Last updated: March 23 2005 20:59
http://news.ft.com/cms/s/62867ce6-9b83-11d9-815d-00000e2511c8.html

Shanghai's vibrant city centre is reaching giddy heights. More than 4,000 buildings soar past the 100-metre mark; top-end property prices are rising by about 5 per cent a month; and office rentals are almost on a par with New York. The emergence of arsonists and thugs picking off residents who refuse to make way for big developments adds to the sector's bubble credentials.

Fundamentals and speculation are driving the market. Like pre-bubble Hong Kong, supply is tight. Meanwhile, an influx of foreigners and rural migrants is swelling the population; the number of urban households is projected to rise 17 per cent to 6.25m by 2010, according to Asian Demographics. But there is also hot money chasing renminbi appreciation in the luxury sector, an estimated 40 per cent of buyers are foreign. Locals, facing miserable returns on savings and equities, are also opting for bricks and mortar.