Home prices in California have risen 130 percent since 1997, twice as much as in the Unite

d States, according to New York Times. These days, house-price surge is more than a local or national condition. Its a worldwide phenomenon. The American housing boom in recent years is nothing compared with the price run in countries like France, Spain, Britain, Ireland, Sweden and Australia. Million-dollar two-bedroom apartments are not only a fixture of New York but also of London, Paris and Hong Kong. In New Zealand, housing prices rose more than 16 percent from 2003 to 2004. In Ireland, they rose more than 10 percent in that period. The rise in prices is worrisome because the international housing boom is a byproduct of globalization. A house on a plot of ground is the most precious assets. But the financial markets that make it convenient for people to borrow money to buy a house, or speculate, are increasingly open, international.