German Investments - In Housing

[don]

compare this to the US RE federal tax credit-itis mind set . . .

German Homebuilding Permits Soar as Investors Seek Hedge Against Inflation

German homebuilding permits soared to records this year as investors sought real estate as a hedge against inflation and a refuge from the sovereign debt crisis.

Permits rose 22 percent in the first nine months, while privately owned apartments gained 43 percent, the most in more than two decades, according to data compiled by the Wiesbaden, Germany-based Federal Statistics Office.

“It’s fear of inflation,” Heiko Stiepelmann, deputy chief executive officer for Germany’s Construction Industry Association, said in an interview. “The strong rise is explained by a lack of profitable, and especially safe, alternatives for investing.”

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-1...ion-hedge.html

[c1ue]

Re: German Investments - In Housing

“It’s fear of inflation,” Heiko Stiepelmann, deputy chief executive officer for Germany’s Construction Industry Association, said in an interview. “The strong rise is explained by a lack of profitable, and especially safe, alternatives for investing.”

I'd say it is the latter rather than the former.

[GRG55]

Re: German Investments - In Housing

I'd say it is the latter rather than the former.

And the fact that Germany is still recovering from nearly a decade of deflating house prices, while the USA is trying to recover from the bursting of the mother of all housing bubbles.

A few weeks ago I was in Regensburg, Bavaria about an hour from Munich Airport. A detached home, in this UNESCO World Heritage designated city, costs about half what it would in Bristol and less than a third of the price of a one-bedroom apartment in Central London. The upside? Fabulous Bavarian beer and a stunning setting on the Danube. The downside? You have to live in Germany...

[c1ue]

Re: German Investments - In Housing

And the fact that Germany is still recovering from nearly a decade of deflating house prices, while the USA is trying to recover from the bursting of the mother of all housing bubbles.

Very good point.

A few weeks ago I was in Regensburg, Bavaria about an hour from Munich Airport. A detached home, in this UNESCO World Heritage designated city, costs about half what it would in Bristol and less than a third of the price of a one-bedroom apartment in Central London. The upside? Fabulous Bavarian beer and a stunning setting on the Danube. The downside? You have to live in Germany...

I like Germany and its people. Beer, I'm more of the horse piss variety drinker.

But the food... I'd be 500 pounds if I lived there.