Panic as 300-metre-high skyscraper wobbles in China (SEG Weebles Plaza in Shenzhen)

[elfenix 34168]

2 hours ago, High Plains Drifter said:

 

thanks to @Ag with kids and @Onboard 2.0 for the engineering lesson.

 

Anyway, I heard a story on the radio where a reporter pretended to be an interested buyer in one of those multi million dollar apartments in manhattan. As the various real estate agents were showing her around a handful of different apts in different buildings, she realized that the buildings seemed practically empty. She asked about it, and the agents said that practically all the owners don't live there, and rarely, if ever, even stay a night. The apts are basically a way for uber rich people, including a lot of foreigners, to park money in the US.

 

So we have thousands (tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands?) of empty apartments sitting unused in a city where finding an affordable apt is impossible. And more sky scrapers being built that will end up being nothing more than a collection of savings bonds for billionaires. 

 

Something ain't right.

 

capital account + current account = 0

[babysdaddy 2711]

Empty condos and $100mm houses are wealth storing and money laundering vehicles.  

[bolverk 29360]

A few days ago Canada passed a law to ban foreigners from buying homes for two years to help ease the pressure on prices.

[Onboard 2.0 9083]

2 minutes ago, bolverk said:

A few days ago Canada passed a law to ban foreigners from buying homes for two years to help ease the pressure on prices.

So that stopped like what, 6 people from buying igloos ?  Yeah, that would never happen here.

 

[Serak The Preparer 3423]

4 minutes ago, Onboard 2.0 said:

So that stopped like what, 6 people from buying igloos ?  Yeah, that would never happen here.

 

Not sure if serious but Toronto and Vancouver housing markets say hello.

[Onboard 2.0 9083]

1 minute ago, Serak The Preparer said:

Not sure if serious but Toronto and Vancouver housing markets say hello.

Of course not serious. 

[PenelopeWitherspoon 19074]

46 minutes ago, babysdaddy said:

Empty condos and $100mm houses are wealth storing and money laundering vehicles.  

 

11 minutes ago, bolverk said:

A few days ago Canada passed a law to ban foreigners from buying homes for two years to help ease the pressure on prices.

On the first, this is true.  NY State enacted laws that you have to register the beneficial owners of LLCs to help prevent that on some of these high dollar real estate transactions.

On the second, wish we would do a few things like that in NYC.  The prices are ridiculous.  Most people are completely priced out.

[Ag with kids 581]

NYC will always suffer through high prices unfortunately.  It's basically limited space with a HUGE demand.  I guess they can tear down a bunch of the shorter skyscrapers and build newer, bigger ones, but that's still limited.

It's not like DFW which, although it has pockets of VERY expensive housing, is reasonably priced for the most part...this is because if things get TOO expensive, they just point to someplace with no buildings and say let's build some stuff there.  It can (and does) just keep expanding outwards...a luxury NYC (and SF, LA, SEA, etc) doesn't really have.

[Beau Vine 53965]

8 hours ago, Onboard 2.0 said:

Of course it's above my pay grade to figure out a way it could work, but the same kind of smart  people who could figure out how to scam it could figure out how to make is more scam proof.  And should housing maybe not be tied to market value ? I'd say there are other indicators prices could be tied to.. maybe ?

The people who could figure out how to make it scam proof are not going to work for the government entity that enacts this.  People that smart are going to make a whole lot more money working for private firms who make money on scamming stuff like this.