Sell your house, buy gold!

Prime — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 16:55:32 GMT

"Thus, in an inflationary environment, real estate prices either remain static or indeed fall on a nominal basis, even as inflation is debasing the currency, because real estate sellers will not find buyers willing to take on usurious debt in order to buy the property.

This is how real estate prices fall, even as prices for near-term necessities—food, fuel—rise. This is how you have a real estate collapse, even as you have inflation.

Don’t believe me? Well, I can empirically prove this. During the 1979–‘83 inflationary recession, this is exactly what happened in the United States: Nominal real estate prices were essentially flat, even as inflation peaked at 15%. The same in the UK during the early Seventies, in fact the same in every advanced economy that experienced low-double-digit inflation in the post-War period: Real estate prices remained nominally flat or even fell, as inflation rose and the currency was debased.

[...]

And when there is hyperinflation, real estate prices of all sorts—residential, commercial, industrial—go into a free-fall: Their prices crash and burn, completely and utterly.

This situation—crazy though it may sound—is exactly what happened in Argentina, in 2001: The Argentine peso went into a hyperinflationary breakdown, the causes of which are irrelevant to the present discussion. But because of this, no bank would lend money to purchase any real estate.

Thus, real estate prices plunged in Argentina.

I have a family friend here in Chile, an attorney named Hernán P., who made one of the shrewdest investments ever: At the height of the Argentine crisis in 2001, he bought an apartment in one of the most fashionable neighborhoods in Buenos Aires: A lovely and luxurious full-floor apartment, across the street from the Four Seasons.

It’s price before the crisis? $650,000. The price Hernán P. paid at the height of the crisis? Less than $90,000. Here’s the kicker: He was the only buyer. Of course, he had to pay in cash—no mortgage loans were available. In fact, he had to pay incash cash: He was required by the seller to close the transaction with actual physical dollars."

I've never seen this information before. Many people believe if they own a house they will be insulated from inflation...unfortunately, this may not be the case.

General

Sell your house, buy gold!