從宏觀角度說說國內的房地產市場.
(2009-06-26 08:58:22)
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很多宏觀經濟現象都可以從人口(population and demographics)的角度來認識. 最典型的例子就是二戰後大量嬰兒的出生(baby boomers)形成了人口分布曲線上的一個鼓包(bulge),先是帶動了日用品的消費(尤其是嬰兒用品, like Johnson & Johnson), 造就了戰後經濟的繁榮,隨後幾十年中這些人成為了年富力強的一代,又造就了高科技,教育,醫療,金融業和房地產業的繁榮(But now they are walking into the sunset in Florida...)
這一波金融危機看似是信貸,房地產過度膨脹的結果,但從人口和人口結構的角度來分析,more and more boomers at their peak earning age require more and increasingly sophisticated vehicles for their investments, such as real estate and exotic fixed income securities.
還有一些有趣的例子,80年代美國城市的犯罪率的大幅下降很可能是因為十幾年前避孕手段的普及和墮胎的合法化使得出生在問題家庭的嬰兒大量減少。
中國為什麽晚於西方世界進入工業化,很大的原因就是因為人力資源的豐富.有史料記載,明清時期一噸鐵的價錢可以雇傭100個(or 1000個?記不清了)壯勞力, 如果這樣,誰會bother去發明蒸汽機?發明出來了也沒有人願意造,願意用.
電話,電報都是美國人發明的(Go USA!), 而不是經濟,科技大大領先於美國的歐洲. why? A British General once said, only Americans need telegraph, we have enough messenger boys!
扯遠了. 回到中國的房地產市場上來。中國的經濟社會也會因為人口結構的變化而變化,我們的父輩大多兄弟姐妹好幾個,而我們這一代人已經有了不少獨生子女。獨生子女這一代已經進入了生育高峰,而且他們中間還出現了數量可觀的丁克一族,one reason being, ironically, that they can not afford both a house and a kid.
雖然在短期或是小範圍內會有隨機波動,但微觀現象在長時間和大範圍內will cancel each other out. 宏觀現象是由宏觀因素決定的,這一點不會改變。People will eventually realize that leaving a 1 million RMB home empty or renting it out for 1000 a month, minus carry costs and depreciation, is not a good investment.
當然不排除一些有先發優勢的大城市由於一定時期內資金,人才的持續流入而造成房價在較長時期內居高不下,這是由於微觀因素可以在一定時期,一定範圍內占主導,就像下山時有的時候有的地方也會遇到一個上坡。這時的表象就是微觀(secular random variation)和宏觀因素(global down trend)的疊加,而宏觀因素總是持續而長久的, 人口的構成不會在短期(比如說一代人)內發生變化.
有人會說housing price will go up because of the increasing scarcity of land. Unfortunately, that’s an urban legend(on pun intended) real estate industry created and fed to you and hope that you’d believe, as many actually did. If you think about it carefully, with the population going down or flat, and agricultural techniques more and more advanced, the land will become more abundant, not scarce.
disclosure of holdings: 左總在國內有房兩套.