Jingle All The Way

It may well be the remnants of a holiday hangover that are clouding my vision, but i can just about make out some light at the end of the festive tunnel.
I've somehow jingled my way to what is nearly the end of another year and these end-of-year columns always demand that I look in any given direction, whether it's forwards, backwards, up or down.
My preferred journey would of course be sideway; staying non-committal and living close enough to the edge to feel an occasional updraft.
The show however, must go on.
The year twenty fourteen has seen real estate plunder and plod across Southeast Asia, and despite all this clamour over ISIS, Ebola and the death of print newspapers, the landscape is pretty positive for property.
All you need to do is turn to the weekend edition of one of those decaying periodicals to see that real estate symposiums are in full swing.
I vaguely recall last year asking for any reader with somewhat violent tendencies and a small weapons cachet to shoot me if I guested the term 'awesome' at any point during the year.
In 2015 the same shout out goes, except apply it to 'lifestyle'.
I've not heard such as lame excuse for a vanilla, one-size-fits-all term since 'hip'.
Sadly, 'lifestyle' is now the hip term.
Despite the introduction of such abominable phrases and the fact all of mankind has been absorbed in smartphones for the past 12 months, we've still found time to buy real estate with near religious zeal.
In this day and age, Mary and Joseph would no longer need to resort to a barn and manger to bring the baby Jesus into the world; they could simply snap up an affordable new condo in the suburban wilderness, although they'd be little room for a visit from the Magi.
Clearly it's not just me who has let my imagination run wild in 20 14; Asia has also embraced its inner fantasy life.
Be it Tuscany, Beverly Hills or Portofino, the West is now being replicated here in the East with more lookalike residential developments springing up than imaginable.
Of this trend I must frankly disagree. It's pure nonsense to live in a Gothic mansion, with tipped roofs for snowstorms in a tropical climate.
And yet more are cropping up everywhere, and in all manner of shapes.
Looking ahead to the big, bad ' 15, or at least trying to, my looking glass is gladly obscured.
It may well be the remnants of a holiday hangover that are clouding my vision, but I can just about make out some light at the end of the festive tunnel.
Perhaps someone can finally explain what exactly the AEC (ASEAN Economic Community) really means and how it's related to the property and the tourism sector.
But for now its remains as understandable as Latin – and that's not a 'Livin' la Vida Loca' reference.
As property in the East becomes even more expensive, real estate in the West, with its offers of long-term yields and debt leveraging, will continue to attract Asia's ultra-rich.
Furthermore, the volatility of the Russian rouble and insatiable appetite of Mainland China means that geopolitical events look set to be drinking buddies with your favourite broker, but it's anyone's guess who will pick up the tab at the end of the night.
Still, in a universe gone mad, our part of the world remains a strong source of energy-not unlike those ancient alien landing zones.
The quest for property perfect has travelled far this past three sixty-five and is poised to plunge into the mid part of the decade as strong as ever.
Will the momentum continue? I guess it all depends on what side of Santa's list you found yourself on Christmas Day.