Comment by eru

> Between "renting an empty house in the country" and "buying a flat to park money", there is a major difference IMO. The second scenario pushes up housing costs for locals and is almost certainly not a good deal for the host society.

Developers are happy to produce more housing, if there's demand and construction is legal.

Why is producing widgets to sell to foreigners (=exports) generally seen as a good thing, but producing housing to sell to foreigners is seen as bad?

> Even the first scenario will fuel inflation, especially given the typical spending power of rich foreigners. It's complicated.

The central bank controls inflation.