March 30, 2007

Hmmm.... Anyone think London housing looks a bit "frothy"?

Century 21 Canada did a survey of "executive-level" housing around the world on a sales per square foot basis, and trust me, I'd say it's spot-on. My 1-bedroom flat in Chelsea would sell for $1.3 million my estate agent told me the other day, or about $2,000 a square foot. So a nicer executive home, more bedrooms, nicer neighborhood, better finishes, $3,000+ a square foot is actually probably a bit low (for this area).


One word: INSANITY.

What's funny though is to see California real estate clerks point out London and Paris prices and they make the jump to "see - California isn't overpriced - it's downright cheap!"

Not.

When comparing prices to sizes of the homes, the CENTURY 21 survey found that the 10 most expensive housing markets in the world for executive home buyers working in the downtown business districts per square foot are:


London, England, $3,156;

Paris, $1,163;

Seoul, $1,097;

Calgary, $800;

Sydney, Australia, $722;

Taipei, $613;

Vancouver, $574;

Athens, $491;

New York, $480;

Tokyo, $385


The survey found that the 10 most expensive housing markets for executive home buyers working in the downtown business districts are


London, England, $5.68-million;

New York, $2.5-million;

Vancouver, $1.55-million;

Sydney, Australia, $1.4-million;

Paris, $1.39-million;

Seoul, $1.25-million;

Calgary, $1.2-million;

Nicosia, $1-million;

Toronto, $890,000;

Victoria, $850,000

23 comments:

Anonymous said...

I bought a house in upstate NY 33/Sq ft......this month, wow, how do people do it. Oh, wait they can't.

Anonymous said...

Froth? Damn... It's FOAMING all over, it's a blob coming after me.

Anonymous said...

Oh, man, London is going to crash

blogger said...

It's funny to have gone from an almost humorous bubble (Arizona) to the mother of all bubbles (London). At least London has incomes and real jobs, but these prices are insane

You'll hear the pop soon all the way back in the States. More of a BANG, versus a pop. But no telling when - we're still in crazy stage here (no inventory, massive speculation, corrupt realtors and lenders)

Anonymous said...

Oh they are starting to realise the BANG throughout Europe.

Constructors and realtors in Greece are really starting to feel the pinch.

Had a talking to a few weeks ago to a person in the industry. "Your bubble is about to burst my friend"...I told him, all smug. "No it ain't, we might be in a slump right now, but Northern Europeans will buy up our inventory(at the same prices), as they don't have Greece's beaches and weather."

"Why don't they just rent a hotel room....it's much cheaper"....was my quick reply.

We are doomed.

London too......a lot of money there......but it will be a bigger bang.

ROI....ROI....I have telling everybody until I am blue in the face.

Anonymous said...

The Calgary number seems out of line. Alberta is booming but not by that much. Vancouver is about right but I'd but Calgary lower for the time being (though it is puffing up faster due to tarsands boom).

What do the recent P/E ratios look like for "investors" trying to make money buying places and renting them out in those markets?

Anonymous said...

HP'ers should BUY NOW in these markets and get in on this and really make some money since we UNDERSTAND the dynamics of bubbles and are smart enough to sell at the top instead of riding it down.
BTW - what banks are financing this? Are they doing sub-prime/Alt-A style mortgages yet?

Anonymous said...

Keifer..
All of the EU is gonna pop.
Sure there are 'incomes and real jobs'out there.
However, the income to cost of living spread is way way worse then here in the US.
this crash will be a lot more fun then the impact of Global warming

Anonymous said...

The Calgary number is probably OK since things have gone insane there. But I think they missed some cities. Where is San Francisco, or LA, or even Beijing and Shanghai are getting very expensive.

Anonymous said...

What?! England still afloat? I thought global warming did take care of that crappy little pompous island.

Anonymous said...

Blah! That's nothing, I live upstate NY and the house down the road from me (a real dump of a fixer upper) just sold this winter for $476/sqft. Sure it has land, but I'm not sure you can count that? It's a 1/2 acre of nasty swamp.

Anonymous said...

Worldwide capitalism got us here. The richest will keep snapping up real estate, perhaps 20, 30, 50 dwellings apiece. After all, they have the billions to do it.

I find it funny that one of the core principles of capitalism is competition yet there is no longer an economic system to compete with capitalism. When there was, things weren't so out of line.

Enjoy your widespread poverty world. It's your fault for allowing America to infect the world with its disease.

Anonymous said...

Executive buyers in downtown areas?

What about the crap their building or built for 1.2 to 1.5 mil in any little area outside any city!

Anonymous said...

You guys are funny. It's too expensive because I can't aford it. Therefore it has to crash so I can afford it. Until that happens I will huff and puff until I blow the bubble down.

Keep dreaming renters, you will be stuck in your ghetto, cockroach infested shithole for the rest of your unholy natural lives.

GT said...

how do those europeans do it? they have that much $ to buy an expensive POS AND go on vacation 12 weeks a year!?

blogger said...

How do Europeans do it? Isn't it obvious? They do it by taking out their unsustainable housing ponzi scheme gains and funding their lifestyle that way. Just like the yanks the past few years.

Then one day, the music stops, the bills come due, and it's all over.

Anonymous said...

Krakatoa man! That's going to be the sound hear around the world!

Anonymous said...

It's odd that Canada would have so many cities in the Top 10 because there are absolutely no tax or financial incentives to own a home there except for appreciation. Toronto and Vancouver prices in particular, have been driven by a large number of immigrants, many of them well-heeled, from South and East Asia.

Anonymous said...

I think it's an error that so many Canadian cities showed up. The prices are probably correct, but other, more expensive cities elsewhere are missing.

Anonymous said...

Why all the shock that Canadian cities are in the list? Canada's a rich country, top 10 countries as far as GDP per capita goes.

Anonymous said...

It's Bush's fault.


Somehow.

Anonymous said...

It's crazy that Victoria is on that list. it is a very small city with an average household income of about $45,000!

Anonymous said...

Could it be that London is top bubble town of the planet because, "it simply wouldn't be polite" to stop bidding up the demnition housing ladder, now would it? No, that would be "bad form", taking away the other fellow's chance to be the greater fool.

Americans keep it going only out of pure self-interest and greed. Devil take the hindmost - no stringing it out to save appearances here!