if you plotted price against volume and represented the time coordinate by labelling the points of the curve, you would observe the system moving counter-clockwise in the diagram. This is typical of all bubbles.
Well, waddya know: there are such "escargot" diagrams available (we French love fancy graphs as much as the next guy, non mais! :)
Here's one from 1985 to 2005 (inflation adjusted), from the Bulle Immobilière forum; it mostly shows the 1990's bubble:
And a more recent one, up to e/o 2008:
If you like Jacques Friggit's work, you'll find all his documents in English on this page, including international comparisons with the UK and the USA (sadly, not with Spain). Europeans think a hundred miles is a long way. Americans think a hundred years is a long time.
And the price increase was purely in Zonedland, but when you average it it doesn't look as big as it was.
OK, I'm channelling Krugman here, but that's the idea. Earth provides enough to satisfy every man's need, but not every man's greed. Gandhi
One would think I would realize this, having moved from the San Fernando Valley to a Mid-South vacation and retirement area where the cost of real estate was ~20% of that in Northridge. But then, does not France and the U.K. also exhibit Flatland and Zonedland differences? Why are the leveling effects so pronounced only in the US? As the Dutch said while fighting the Spanish: "It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere."
The bulk of France population-wise is indeed Zonedland: major metropolitan areas, especially in the Southern half of the country.
The previous RE bubble in the 90's was mostly limited to the Paris metropolitan area. This bubble is more egalitarian (progress at last!): all medium and large cities and associated exburbs were affected.
Meanwhile, in Germany, there was no RE bubble at all. Property prices have even slightly decreased if I'm not mistaken. Europeans think a hundred miles is a long way. Americans think a hundred years is a long time.
