Those of you most familiar with the dumps of my brain will now that I believe there is a big speculative bubble on real-estate in most of the Western world, which is now starting to explode here and there. Here being America and there being Spain (with a bit in Oz as well — we're still waiting for France and the UK to explode).

There's a good article in The Times called The gain in Spain goes mainly down the drain. Here are some extracts (Emphasis are mine):

Shares in property companies plunged after it became clear to investors that there is not a limitless supply of wide-eyed Brits [...] to soak up the 800,000 properties a year being built in Spain.

Those who have bought holiday homes in the country recently face losing money

I really like this one:
Why can’t we enjoy going on holiday any more without thinking we have got to acquire a slice of real estate?
Answer: because real estate is magic: it's tangible (as opposed to shared in a company), and people appear to think there is a shortage of it and therefore its value can only increase. So the sooner you buy, the richer you get. Well, that's the theory anyway.

Britons who think their Spanish villa was a sure-fire investment are about to be rudely awakened.

Well, I just hope that the south of France is next!