Okay, so clearly not even the ghost of Internet bubbles burst was enough to scare homebuyers. The latest home sales figures are nothing short of bubbletastic (the median sales price has risen more in the last year than at any time since 1979). Perhaps it's time to break out the heavy artillary. That's right -- we're talking tulip craze people. And we don't need to remind you how that ended.
But, just in case, Piet Eichholtz, professor of real-estate economics at the University of Maastricht, has some sales figs from the Herengracht, "the Park Avenue of Amsterdam," for you:
One residence, No. 297 Herengracht, was sold in 1620, before the bubble, for 1,602 florins, records from the time show. In 1634, before the bubble burst, it was sold for 3,007 florins. This compares with a transaction at No. 231 Herengracht, sold in 1632 for 3,725 florins and changed hands again in 1662, 25 years after the crash, for 4,000 florins.275 measely florins in 25 years. We'll just let that sink in for a minute.
· August existing home sales climb 2% [CNN/Money]
· Herengracht, Dutch Tulip Bulbs Show Today's Housing Boom Peril [Bloomberg]
· BubbleWatch: Buy Yahoo! Sell Tribeca Or Not! [Curbed]