The worldwide housing Ponzi Scheme is over as overheated property markets crash around the world

Ah, ya gotta love the first truly worldwide Ponzi Scheme. Who'd have thunk that Irish people would be losing their shirts in Spain or that Brits would be getting slaughtered in Latvia.

The worldwide credit bubble is over. And people around the globe have seen what's happened in Phoenix and Miami and Boston and San Diego and more and they're pulling out of the scam as fast as they can, at any price.

It's over. Ding dong the Global Housing Ponzi Scheme is over.

Thanks to HP'er Christophe in France for the link

Foreign property dreams crash - Irish investors face meltdown as real estate prices plummet throughout Europe and US

Tens of thousands of Irish homeowners may be facing financial meltdown as hugely hyped overseas property investments turn sour.

Lured by unrealistic promises of extraordinary returns, Irish investors borrowed heavily to pick up cheap buy-to-let apartments abroad. But property prices in these so called "hotspots" have begun to plummet in recent months.

Along with rising mortgage rates, the strong euro and dismal rental markets, dark clouds are forming for a so- called "Perfect Storm" that could decimate the investment nest eggs of the househunters in the sun.

About 150,000 Irish investors are thought to have bought properties in Spain. However, the oversupply of apartments in Spain's Costa del Sol has pushed the price of some properties down by as much as 20 per cent.

Last month, the Kyero Spanish house price index revealed massive price falls across the country, with the average value of a two-bed home in Mallorca falling €33,000 to €292,000 in the past four months.

Similar slumps have been logged in areas from Gran Canaria to Girona and Cadiz. Estate agents are now advertising "price-reduced" homes in almost every region.

The slowdown in the overseas property market comes at a time when Irish investors in properties promoted by Michael Lynn, the solicitor and property developer at the centre of an investigation by the Law Society, are already worried. Some of these investors have paid deposits on overseas property but have not yet secured the title.

"If you look at a typical two-bedroom apartment in the Costa del Sol, its paper value could be about €250,000," said Darren Costello, managing director of propertyinvestments.ie, a Dublin firm that offers advice on overseas property investment.

"But you'd be hard-pressed to find a buyer for €200,000."

Bulgaria has been touted as a investment "hotspot" by Irish property promoters. But new figures from investor.bg, reveal that apartment prices in Sunny Beach fell by 4 per cent in July alone.

Similar slumps have been experienced in Ahtopol, Prmorsko and SvetiVlass, as a massive oversupply of tourist apartments remains unsold.

Other hugely popular eastern European or Baltic markets have skidded to a halt, with dramatic price-falls in some countries. Latvia's bubble has well and truly burst, with the Latio Investment agency revealing falls of almost 11 per cent since April.

Estonia and Lithuania have also experienced decreasing property prices. The central statistics office in Poland has also reported values slipping in the second quarter of the year. In Budapest, Hungary, some 3 per cent has been snipped off prices of new apartments, according to the Global Property Guide.

One Irish investor is facing losses of about €30,000 after buying a Budapest property for about €79,855 three years ago. The investor, who is now trying to sell his property, was advised that the best sale price he can secure now is €69,000. By the time he sells the apartment, he will have paid about €20,000 in fees, taxes and renovations.