Thursday, July 9, 2009

Hut Glut a Hoot

From the WSJ, a "must read": A Housing Market Built on Mud Takes Off, and Then Goes Thud;
Mining Slump Leaves Village With a Hut Glut; Rooms Without a View for Rent, Dirt Cheap
. Here's a sample:

NIONSOMORIDOU, Guinea -- This West African village doesn't have running water or electric lights. Most people get here by walking barefoot along a dirt path. The remote mountain community has one up-to-the-minute feature, though: a housing bust.

Rents had risen in recent years, and local residents and home builders let their enthusiasm get the better of them, turning out a spate of new construction. Now, rows of newly built houses stand empty in the village, and rents have been cut in half. So far, not so different from Miami or Phoenix. Except that these homes are one-room, windowless mud-brick huts, and the rent is about $6.50 a month. . .

Read on, please. You'll enjoy it. There really is nothing new under the sun, it would seem.

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