Population Change and International Real Estate
According to an article in The Economist magazine, by the year 2015 the world population will begin to decline. What will this mean for international real estate? I am not an economist or a futurist; but I do read science fiction sometimes. The dire situations there are usually for the purpose of supporting an unreal environment for the purpose of speculation.
What will really happen? Already the population is moving from rural areas to urban ones. More efficient agriculture makes this possible for now. More efficient is not always better. People who can afford it are avoiding factory-grown food as much as possible. People are also moving from developing countries to developed ones for employment and standard of living reasons. Oddly enough other people are going the other way for the same reasons. Central Americans and Mexicans are moving to the US and Spain to find work and money. People from the USA and Spain are going to Central America and Mexico for a slower less expensive lifestyle.
People are living longer in most of the developing world. The birth rate is dropping. The economists seem to think that retirement ages will have to increase. The economists have been shown to be wrong about the things a country should do to increase GDP growth and improve their economies. Maybe they are wrong about this too. Over consumption is wasteful and expensive and after some time it loses its appeal. The Europeans work 36 hours a week and still have unemployment.
If work becomes more portable and people do jobs that do not use up valuable natural resources and energy and do not pollute the environment, think what a change that will make. Automobiles could last 20 years easily. Sure the old cars use more gasoline and pollute a little bit more. How much energy consumption and pollution is caused by making a new one? Why do we need to replace perfectly good clothes because of style changes?
Maybe instead of more consumer goods, a more leisurely population would need more music, more art, more literature. We could live anywhere and produce these things and enjoy life in our own way.
David Segrest is a REALTOR in Charlotte, NC
David S. Segrest, CIPS, CCIM, TRC, CEA
david@segrestrealty.com
http://www.segrestrealty.com
Serving the world in the Carolinas, Serving the Carolinas in the World
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