From China to Canada and London, fast-rising property markets are haunting the global economy again, five years after the U.S. subprime mortgage bubble burst and triggered the worst financial crisis since the 1930s. For now, house price inflation is neither as high nor as widespread as it was in the middle of last decade. Except in a few cases, the warning signals are flashing amber, not red, and several countries have acted to cool overheating markets.

China is awash with cash, even if it is concentrated among a relatively small percentage of professionals and business owners. The buying power generated by all that money has been inflating a Chinese property bubble, which some believe is primed to burst.