RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:
And our last word in business today is: Parking Bubble.
It comes from Hong Kong, where land is scarce but cash is apparently plentiful.
DAVID GREENE, HOST:
Residents of Hong Kong have long put their money into real estate, making the former British colony an expensive place to buy property. But lately, the government has been trying to cool down the housing market.
MONTAGNE: And the specter of falling property prices has investors looking for other places to park their cash, so they're parking it in parking spaces.
GREENE: Get ready for this. Tomorrow, a single parking spot will go on the auction block with a starting price of almost $88,000.
MONTAGNE: And the auction house can be pretty confident that it will get its price because one Hong Kong developer recently sold 500 spaces for $167,000 U.S. dollars each. Sounds like New York City Manhattan prices.
GREENE: Yes, it does.
MONTAGNE: And that's the business news on MORNING EDITION from NPR News. I'm Renee Montagne.
GREENE: And I'm David Greene. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.