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http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a.lhD2W5k.lY&refer=home
I really think China is on the right track here. Looks like the wheels are comming off the US wagon as Mr. Schiff predicted. If the USD is ousted at the reserve currency it could make things very interesting in markets like CR and Nica where real estate is priced in USD. It could force builders to price the properties in Colons, Cordobas or the new reserve currency as to curb against hyper inflation. This might be less attractive to American buyers…but even worse…it would also likely eliminate MOST American buyers…crippling the CR real estate market…of course only until the Chinese move in…
As far as I have read, the Chinese have not yet become a consumer society to match the wealth they have created….and as American buyers of their manufature economy disappear, so will a substantial portion of their wealth.
Another reason why I wouldn’t expect to see Chinese buyers replacing the volume that gringo buyers once created is that, besides the geographical distance, there is a cultural gulf much wider between the Chinese and the Ticos than exists between Ticos and gringos. Perhaps South America will represent a larger portion of the real estate market as Americans disappear from the scene but I think we all know that will not match what American buyers have represented.
On a brighter note, world stock markets are up sharply over the last few weeks. If this is a sustained bull run, it could mean an end the free fall in about 6 months time. Then, optimists might begin to hope to see a slow turn around. Perhaps ten years from today, anew cycle of the Costa Rican land boom will begin.
I agree with Sprite on this one. The Chinese have been tampering with the Yuan for some time and the world is not even close to accepting it as a reserve currency. Even the stallwart Swiss Franc has been battered lately along with the Pound Sterling and the Euro. The cultural gulf + distance is a long way for the chinese to go before anything resembling “Hongcouver, BC”, especially when there are a lot of tropical areas for cheap in Southeast Asia and the South Pacific that are less than a days travel. However, when they do move they will form their own neighborhoods as they have everywhere they have immigrated.
All immigrants have their communities. There seem to be quite a few gated communities in the Central Valley which I assume are mostly populated by gringos. I know a wonderful little Israeli community near Bajo Rodriguez, north of San Ramon.
But I know that some immigrant cultures are particularly prone to isolating themselves a bit. The Chinese seem to be like that.
All cultures do have their communities, however, it has been my observation in the west coast US cities with significant “China Towns” (Vancouver, Seattle & San Francisco), that the Chinese literally take over entire districts. Their ability to proliferate is higher than other cultures and is probably due to the population density they are used to living in. It is this population density importation + lack of respect for the environment that worries me. Costa Rica is .03% of the population of China, thus only a small fraction of their populetion could double the population in CR.
I love how a thread is started about currencies and ends up being a stereotypical bash on the Chinese.
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