Five property stories making global headlines this week:
From clicks to bricks
Architectural trade magazine Building Design featured the first house in western Europe to be produced by a 3D printer. The one-storey prototype home, built in front of Milan Cathedral, offers 100 sq metres of living space and took 48 hours to construct.
Vancouver to feel the ‘Amazon effect’
Homebuyers face ever tougher prospects in Vancouver’s runaway property market, where condominium prices have more than doubled in a decade. Bloomberg has detailed fears of further market acceleration in the city after Amazon announced a planned five-fold increase in its workforce there by 2022. The tech giant’s expansion is expected to put further pressure on an already tight housing supply.
Dandong’s Korean talks dividend
The real estate market has also received a boost in Dandong, north-east China. According to the Financial Times, both residential sales volumes and house prices have increased significantly since March, when North Korean leader Kim Jong Un held talks with China’s President Xi Jinping. Interest has risen further since Kim’s summit with South Korea’s President Moon Jae-in on April 27. Dandong is China’s biggest hub for trade with North Korea.
Liberian lessons on tax
Meanwhile, in Liberia, a crackdown on property tax avoidance is under way, starting with its politicians. In a talk at the country’s House of Representatives, domestic tax commissioner Darlingston Y Talery gave lawmakers a “step-by-step” guide to paying their property taxes, Liberian news magazine Front Page Africa reported.
‘Nightmares’ and the city
New York City gubernatorial candidate Cynthia Nixon has been dubbed a “nightmare scenario” for real estate. According to The Real Deal property news site, the former Sex and the City star’s left-leaning housing policies are unsettling New York’s property industry, which questions Nixon’s ideas, including a rethink of developer tax breaks. “Nixon would be a nightmare scenario for the real estate world,” said William F Buckley O’Reilly, a New York Republican political strategist.
Photographs: Arup/Luca Orlandini; Dreamstime; dpa Picture Alliance/Alamy Stock Photo; AFP/Getty Images
