It appears reality is hitting home in the property bubble capital of the world. The so-called "Skyscraper Index" continues [7] to show an unhealthy correlation between construction of the world's tallest building and an impending financial crisis - for example, New York 1930; Chicago 1974; Kuala Lumpur 1997, and Dubai 2010.
[8]
As The Dubai Chronicle reports [9], the record-breaking Sky Tower in Changsha, China, has seen its budget surge from $625 million to $855 million and completion dates pushed back to April 2014, after originally being scheduled for completion at the start of 2013.
[10]
and here's the dreamy video of what it will look like and how fast they were planning on building it...
As Barclays notes, often the world's tallest buildings are simply the edifice of a broader skyscraper building boom, reflecting a widespread misallocation of capital and in impending economic correction.
(click image for large legible version)
[11]
Investors should therefore pay particular attention to China - today's biggest bubble builder with 53% of all the world's skycrapers under construction - and India - which with just two completed skyscrapers, now has 14 skyscrapers under construction.
[12]
Source: Barclays
Mark Thornton on the Skyscraper Index...
Skyscraper Index [13]