tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10698887.post4267013297562618199..comments2023-10-22T18:25:39.688+08:00Comments on The View from Taiwan: Beer Housing at Champagne PricesMichael Turtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17974403961870976346noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10698887.post-58203128701816323932010-11-03T07:24:29.360+08:002010-11-03T07:24:29.360+08:00les.... that's what I have heard too.les.... that's what I have heard too.Michael Turtonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17974403961870976346noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10698887.post-66113345213302091702010-11-03T01:25:01.830+08:002010-11-03T01:25:01.830+08:00In the western housing debacle one of the outcomes...In the western housing debacle one of the outcomes was massive foreclosure shenanigans. I have met 2 Taiwanese who told me they were still paying mortgages on 921 destroyed properties. Could you do a post/have you done a post on "how to" default on a loan? One person, a woman, implied leg breakers would be involved in her collection process. The credit card crisis a few years ago seemed to show an enlightened and benevolent regulatory and banking system. I must be deluded?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10698887.post-40249762901268478852010-11-03T00:14:28.561+08:002010-11-03T00:14:28.561+08:00Another friend in real estate talks about Hu's...Another friend in real estate talks about Hu's connections with developers like it's common knowledge. He's following Lin Bo-rung's model for Taichung. Pick an area, send friends and relatives to go buy the land cheap, re-zone it for development and then spend the city's money making sure the project goes forward.<br />I'm pretty sure this is an open secret as Hu apparently is on the board of many developers.lesnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10698887.post-27407486102470181222010-11-02T17:29:59.608+08:002010-11-02T17:29:59.608+08:00I recently saw a news report linking Jason Hu to a...<b>I recently saw a news report linking Jason Hu to a prominent developer.</b><br /><br />Who does that remind me of the line in the song "Chicago" -- "I saw a man; he danced with his wife..."<br /><br />It's the kind of info that isn't/should be suprising.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10698887.post-84074221557730204162010-11-02T16:40:58.958+08:002010-11-02T16:40:58.958+08:00I recently saw a news report linking Jason Hu to a...I recently saw a news report linking Jason Hu to a prominent developer.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10698887.post-58376480996559547432010-11-02T01:52:10.673+08:002010-11-02T01:52:10.673+08:00After reading the blog post of Lao Ren Cha, I wond...After reading the blog post of Lao Ren Cha, I wonder what a graph of Taiwan's marriage rate overlaid with Taiwans's housing price inflation would look like.Okaminoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10698887.post-9231021793814020232010-11-01T23:26:13.794+08:002010-11-01T23:26:13.794+08:00Housing prices are becoming an issue with the part...Housing prices are becoming an issue with the parties, in at least one instance, presumably in belated response to heavy coverage in the press.<br /><br />Check out Hau Lung-bin's bizarre election promises to build apartments on one of the wealthiest strips of Renai Road for struggling young families, and Su Tseng-chang's sharp (if not comprehensive) response.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10698887.post-68232438740943722472010-11-01T19:41:49.796+08:002010-11-01T19:41:49.796+08:00A few people in the real estate business have told...A few people in the real estate business have told me that prices in Taichung are held up not only by the hot money Taishang brought back with them, but also that of their Chinese friends. They are not just buying apartments for Chinese investors, they are buying buildings. Returning Taishang are helping the Chinese inflate the bubble because they know they will also profit.lesnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10698887.post-84515592493484717172010-11-01T18:53:53.670+08:002010-11-01T18:53:53.670+08:00I agree, btw. Eventually more Taiwanese will rent ...I agree, btw. Eventually more Taiwanese will rent or become house poor. One aspect of housing in Taiwan is that rentals remain cheap even though housing is expensive.<br /><br />The tie-in between home ownership and IDs is a nifty observation and one I shoudl have mentioned. Nice.Michael Turtonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17974403961870976346noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10698887.post-21525156744269225312010-11-01T18:53:01.231+08:002010-11-01T18:53:01.231+08:00It shocks me when you write posts like this yet yo...<b>It shocks me when you write posts like this yet you still seem to abhor free market capitalism with low govt regulation.</b><br /><br />It shocks me that you divide the world into such simplistic dichotomies as free market/not free market. I don't make that distinction, because a free market is to economics what unicorns are to zoology. <br /><br />The issue is not free/unfree but what kind of market would serve the purposes of society? Clearly this market is arranged to screw the public and enrich the construction-industrial state. It is a market in which the public in the form of home buyers is strictly regulated but home builders are unregulated. <br /><br />It seems obvious that different market arrangements, such as the US, where zoning is locally controlled, land values reflect land usage, and home builders are locally regulated with regional oversight, might produce better results. That is not a "free" market either, but it is one that is vastly more efficient from the social outcome point of view. It is not yet very efficient -- the regulatory process is captured by the construction industry though not as badly as here -- and thus many things, such as solarization, power conservation, etc, are not carried out when they should be. <br /><br />MichaelMichael Turtonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17974403961870976346noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10698887.post-25952613325207428882010-11-01T18:28:13.458+08:002010-11-01T18:28:13.458+08:00Neither party can make an issue of it because they...Neither party can make an issue of it because they both derive so much money from the system as it stands. I'd also hate to see what would happen to their families if they came out against an industry so rife with organized crime.<br /><br />Eventually more Taiwanese will rent or become house-poor. Owning a home is sort of mandatory due to the household registration. I expect home ownership in the US to return to pre-WW2 levels with the vast majority renting as the subsidization of home ownership declines due to the subsidies being unbearable for the govt at large and the several million homes/property that will have clouded titles. <br /><br />It shocks me when you write posts like this yet you still seem to abhor free market capitalism with low govt regulation.Okaminoreply@blogger.com