real estate or stocks as an investment??

[dipper]

Actually you don't need to be very rich to retire (or semi-retire) it just depends what you want to do.

If you want to fly round the world in a private jet you're gonna need a bob or two. If you want to sit on a beach in Thailand most of you can probably do it now if you want to.

[beachball]

Supply and demand rule tells us that when there are more buyers than sellers, the price for the good goes up. Now why would that be a hilarious statement? If there are much more people willing to buy than there are people willing to sell, you create a price increase scenario that doesn't rely on the asset's fundamental value after a while.

No, that is not correct. Check out an economics 101 textbook.

BTW, thanks for the red dot and the "c*nt" comment. Classy!

[=XTR=M=]

Experts warn bubble brewing in HK property market

Hong Kong's residential property prices have rebounded this year by up to 30 per cent, despite continued economic uncertainty.

Consultants said the property market is disconnected from the wider economic reality, while economists warned that a property bubble has formed.

Developers attribute the rise to record-low mortgage costs, near-zero interest rates and tightened supply.

Consultants predict property transactions will be around 20 per cent higher in 2009, compared to the previous year.

But they believe there is a disconnection between what's happening in the property sector and the real economy.

Some expect prices to plateau towards the end of 2009, and continue into 2010.

"At best, a plateau for 2010, perhaps even a dip. Nothing dramatic, but just an adjustment or correction as reality prevails, if you like... as people realise that the potential could be more job losses, and people feel vulnerable in terms of their employment. These sort of things could affect sentiment in the market," said Nicholas Brooke, chairman of Professional Property Services Ltd.

Just this week, a local property agency announced it closed a sky-high deal on an apartment in a luxury development.

A Hong Kong businessman paid US$3.2 million for a 816-square foot apartment in the Masterpiece development in Kowloon district.

That is about US$3,850 per square foot - a record price for a one-bedroom apartment in Hong Kong.

Realtors said that's enough to buy a second-hand luxury flat with three bedrooms in the city's prime mid-levels area.

Economists warned that much of the prime property market has been buoyed by hot money from mainland buyers and investors, rather than end-users.

"There's already a bubble, no doubt about it. But whether or not the bubble will burst away soon, or whether the bubble still goes on for a while, that's the issue," said Raymond So, Finance Department, Chinese University.

The bubble is expected to burst once the hot money leaves the market, but when exactly that will happen is hard to predict.