In Germany at least, there has not been a housing bubble in this decade; prices in most markets have remained steady at best, or steadily deflated. It would be interesting to know what the trends are in other European countries (outside of Spain and the UK).
That said, the global liquidity bubble has manifested itself in Germany in the form of (largely Anglo-Saxon) private equity funds acquiring businesses and commercial real estate. It will be interesting to see whether the bursting of the US home equity bubble will have any knock-on effects in the locust business. The fact is that what we're experiencing right now is a top-down disaster. -Paul Krugman
The Spanish economy is very dependent on the construction sector and we can have a recession in our hands if things break suddenly. "It's the statue, man, The Statue."
* Worldwide recession will ensue, possibly civil war and a new Iron Curtain in China. This is never good for real estate.
Dry Humour of the Year Award.