Residential property prices are rising across much of Asia, prompting fears of a real estate bubble. Apartments are selling for staggering prices, and central banks and finance ministries have begun to rein in property-related stimulus measures.
Yet it seems only yesterday that prices were falling, giving rise to fears of a hard landing for property investors that could have destroyed huge amounts of personal wealth and delayed the recovery.
In Hong Kong, for example, prices for apartments costing more than HK$10m (US$1.3m, €880,000, £790,000) fell 6.2 per cent in the third quarter of last year, according to Savills Research, which feared that luxury prices might fall by a further 40-45 per cent by the end of this year.