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July 9, 2008 5:06:23 AM CDT

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Cuba's Underground Housing Boom

Posted Jan 28, 08 2:58 PM CST in World    Editor's Choice

(Newser) – A  booming black market in real estate is operating in Cuba, even though the government owns most property. Prices are soaring as property changes hands in a complex, illegal system called permuta, reports the New York Times. Housing swaps are permitted in Cuba, with government approval; permuta involves trading up or down, with illegal cash payments on the side.

“There aren’t enough houses, and families can’t buy them. So they trade," says a director who made a film about the process. Meanwhile, an increasing amount of paperwork is required for each swap, which means a corresponding rise in the amount of bribery necessary to grease the palms of the bureaucrats in charge.

Source New York Times

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Cubans fish at dawn in Old Havana, Thursday, Jan. 17, 2008. (AP Photo/Dado Galdieri)   (Associated Press)
A man walks by a mural of a Cuban flag and words that read in Spanish "Cuba, Yes," top left, in Havana, Friday, Jan. 18, 2008. (AP Photo/Dado Galdieri)   (Associated Press)
Manuel Lopez, 69, smokes a cigarette by the door of his home in Old Havana, Thursday, Jan. 17, 2008. (AP Photo/Dado Galdieri)   (Associated Press)
A man looks out from a balcony next to a banner of Cuba's revolutionary leader Ernesto "Che" Guevara during the 155th birth anniversary of Cuba's independence hero Jose Marti in Havana, Sunday night,...   (Associated Press)
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