Chinese Blueprints

Western architects and developers once had an easy run at bidding for big Chinese building projects. But as I detailed in a recent story for Portfolio.com, these days they’re finding themselves without contracts as Chinese firms increasingly take advantage of their country’s building boom.

Left, an image of SOHO China Ltd’s $792.3 million Chaoyangmen SOHO complex in central Beijing.

The Future of Housing: Think Small

One of the biggest questions swirling in global property circles these days is how a reeling real estate industry will reshape and redefine itself for the future. Few signs of a quick reversal of fortune exist, but in this essay piece for Conde Nast Portfolio I take a closer look at the future of the industry and find it reveals important trends and, surprisingly, reasons for optimism.

Over There and Underwater

Real estate investors have been flocking to far-off locations for years in pursuit of a better climate, a lower cost of living, tax breaks, and other advantages. The migration accelerated during the real estate boom in the U.S.,and Europe as prices in traditional second-home communities soared.

But in this cautionary tale I reported on for Conde Nast Portfolio.com, house hunters who packed their passports and sought bargain properties in up-and-coming overseas locales from Belize to Bulgaria watched their investment shrivel during a real estate downturn that affected nearly every corner of the property market.

 

 

 

 

 

 

A home for sale in Trsteno on the Croatian cost.