Michael Jackson Heard Rolling In His Grave
March 4th, 2010
A Chinese recently told me one of her uncles recently bought a 60 square meter (about 600 square feet) apartment for his son so the boy has the credibility to find a girlfriend. The assumption, of course, is that the girl will want to marry the boy because of the investment.
According to Xinhuanet: “The house of deceased pop star Michael Jackson was sold for 3.1 million dollars (around 21.2 million yuan). The price comes to only 14,000 yuan per sq m. That is much cheaper than Chinese houses. In January, housing prices stayed between 17,000 and 19,000 yuan per sq m in areas beyond the Fifth Ring Road in Beijing.”
The article attributes the stratospheric price tags to: Chinese devoting most of their resources toward buying a home; local government control of real estate companies that sell the homes; and banks which relish the interest from homeowner loans.
It’s a shame Jackson’s residence wasn’t in Beijing; his estate would have been able to pay off more of the King of Pop’s debts than the current purchase.
Previous posts:
A Look Under the Hood at China’s Economic Engine
If it Looks Like a Bubble and It Smells Like a Bubble…
