The Real Deal New York

From the June issue: Each day, the business sections of Zimbabwe’s leading newspapers carry ever-more-dire fiscal news. But to understand the unraveling of the country’s economy, the real estate pages are hard to beat. In May 2007, a three-bedroom home with manicured gardens and a swimming pool in the upper-middle-class suburb of Borrowdale cost 4 billion Zimbabwe dollars. Six months later, the house was still on the market, this time listed for 380 billion Zimbabwe dollars. That house is still for sale, but last month a similar home in the same enclave went for 8 trillion Zimbabwe dollars. Welcome to the mad, mad world of business in Zimbabwe.