| When US consular officials in Mumbai bought a chunk | | | | to put a lid on the market, in part by seeking to curb |
| of real estate for a new building in the city's then | | | | bank lending to the sector. |
| cheaper midtown area four years ago, they thought | | | | But few believe they will be able to achieve much |
| their troubles were finally over. | | | | more than a dampening of the worst excesses of a |
| The location of their existing premises in exclusive but | | | | phenomenon some see running for years. |
| crowded south Mumbai meant they had to pay heavily | | | | "We've got asset booms around the region and it's |
| to house staff within a reasonable commuting distance | | | | pretty much uniform. There are very few countries |
| from the office. | | | | where you don't see it, whether it's in equities or in the |
| What they did not count on, however, was Asia's | | | | property market," says Tim Condon, chief economist |
| great property boom. | | | | at ING in Singapore. |
| Midtown land prices in India's financial capital began | | | | It is not just the parts of the region undergoing industrial |
| rising steeply and, with top-end rents doubling annually, | | | | development that are experiencing the surge. |
| the consulate faces the same problem even before its | | | | Jones Lang LaSalle, the property consultancy, |
| new offices are built. | | | | estimates that Tokyo prime office space rose 63 per |
| "There are rental apartments which we had | | | | cent in value last year while residential rental prices |
| considered premium at Rs300,000 [$6,800] a month - | | | | were up 28 per cent. |
| these now go for Rs600,000," says Anjeli Hazari, a | | | | This provides further evidence that Japan is putting |
| Mumbai estate agent catering to expatriates. | | | | behind it the long period in the doldrums that followed |
| It's a very erratic, very volatile market." Across large | | | | the bursting of the country's 1980s asset bubble. |
| parts of Asia, the same pattern is being repeated. | | | | Japanese property stocks this month hit levels not |
| The rapid growth of the region's economies, led by | | | | seen since the 1980s and shares in Mitsui Fudosan, the |
| China and India, is inflating property prices. | | | | leading developer, surpassed a lifetime high. |
| The trend has sent national regulators scrambling to try | | | | |