There have been shockingly large price increases recently for property in mainland China, so there’s heated debate over whether the industry is blowing into a bubble that will inevitably end in a nasty popping sound. If so, can anything prevent that from happening? Or, are fears of a bursting real estate bubble unfounded?

The similarities between the Japanese economy in the 1980s and China’s economy today are striking: In both instances, the large Asian economy was (and is) a large holder of U.S. debt, had substantial trade friction with the United States, exhibited huge loan growth in the banking sector, and fears of domestic property bubbles grew day by day. We all know how this story ended for Japan — i.e., a lost decade of growth! But how will it play out in China?

In September, IREI and APREA teamed up to produce the VIP – Asia Investor Roundtable, a real estate conference for investors and the investment managers serving them. Since this was the first investor-focused event in the history of real estate conferences in Asia, I wanted to give you a quick update on some of the issues discussed there.