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To: Elroy Jetson who wrote (62745)	4/25/2005 1:52:04 PM
From: xropotkin	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 74559

regarding east germans buying homes in poland The same thing is going on in the east of Germany where Poland has 121 people per square kilometer and lower incomes. This greatly reduced income density makes homes in Poland dramatically less expensive than Germany. As a consequence the partial EU affiliation has led many Germans to move to nearby Polish towns where they can get twice the home for the same price. i'm not casting aspersions on what you've written, but do you have a link or specific areas where this is happening? there are (easily broken) laws set up to prevent germans from buying real estate in the parts of poland that belonged to germany before WWII. outside of berlin, dresden, and leipzig, eastern germany does not have any cities with more than 500,000 people and seems mostly rural.

To: Elroy Jetson who wrote (62745)	4/25/2005 2:40:32 PM
From: Moominoid	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 74559

I have no doubt that those income effects are the most important determinant of house prices, that and interest rates, but supply side effects also have some relevance... but maybe not in the long-run you suggest... that's interesting. I started off actually as an undergrad and then also in my first professional job specializing in the urban geography area but since went in the environmental economics direction. Canberra is a city I got to like more, the more as I lived there and now remember fondly :) Its population density is lower than the average for the whole country of Bangladesh though. It is amazing that people still tell me that it is always better to buy than rent. Recently I was arguing online with a bunch of people on the website of the Chronicle of Higher Education. Housing prices are low in my area but the property tax alone on a median house is greater than my rent on what for here is a fairly expensive apartment. You don't need any complicated arguments about opportunity costs to see that it is cheaper to rent in cases like these.