Gratuitous Assumption
The author assumes that since the price increase at a faster pace in S than in P, the price in S is higher than that in P. Hold your horses. We do not know the starting point of the price comparison, how could we know the price thereafter??? What if several years ago the price in S was way below that of in P and even a few years of catching-up would not fill in the gap. Look at the GDP of China and US. Although China's growth is phenomenal, it still have a long way to go to overtake the lead from the US.
In addition, a fast price hike does not equal overpriced. It all depends on the value of the land and the expectation of the investor therefor. As long as there is an increase demand for retail space in S and a limited supply of available land therefor, the price in S might keep rising until it reaches the plateau. Based on the same rationale, no increase in price for real estate in P might simply indicates that the properties there have reached their plateau and further increase in price is highly unlikely.
-- by 会员 sdcar2010 (2010/12/31 2:05:59)