Summer of 2006 Rise

The boom of the rare values market in the summer of 2006 was an unprecedented event in rare values history and took place from the spring of that year to the end of August. The resulting collapse took place quickly at the end of August and continued well into the next year of 2007 where rares struggled to sell and the price of the Club Sofa and Throne both rocketed in price as people flocked back to holding a currency rare which would at least retain its stable value and was tradable. It was in this period that the value of the Club Sofa went from around 30 RD to an eventual 60 RD to 80 RD in later years.

The period remains well known among older Habbos for it was the first market boom to take place on the British hotel, and remains to this date one of the most stable, long-lived and sustainable. This period in rare values history also saw the Samovar Crisis in the early months of 2007 and the subsequent rise of Habbo Hotel Guides (HHGS) as a challenger to Habbox rare values.

Market Analysis

Chart detailing the economic history of the market from 2006 to 2007. Green denotes periods of prosperity, red denotes market downturns.

The market analysis of this time is a big contrast with that of the previous 2001 to 2006 period. In this period, Habbo and the rare values market saw the first big surge in values - fuelled by a massive surge in the hotels user numbers, and a summer where the hotel put many events on over the summer holidays meaning users were spending a lot of time on the hotel over the summer break from school. This of course, led to increased trading hours and gave users more time to go out and trade and seek profit.

This period also saw the introduction of the V9 rares into the hotel, with the Red Silk Pillow being released in the February of 2006 and the likes of the Red Dragon Lamp, Vanilla Ice Cream Machine, White Oriental Screen and Yellow Marquee following - this in many ways assured those involved in the super rares market to buy the classic rares such as the Dragon Egg and Golden Nelly as there had previously been a distrust in buying super rare items which were often released as normal rares later on.

At the height of the summer, many classic rares practically doubled in price - with most of the effect being focused on the normal rares market. However, as the market peaked in August, prices began to stagnate very quickly and this resulted in fast-selling where traders would frantically go from trying to get the most for their item to try to undercut the other trader in the room simply to get rid of the item. This causes, and caused in this period, a collapsing effect which spread to other rare items as demand dropped steeply and supply in turn increased as Habbos attempted to sell off their now unwanted items. By the end of the summer, items crashed back to their original (sometimes below) values - brought on mainly by an overheated market but also due to other factors such as the summer holiday coming to a close. It's also worth bearing in mind that many of these items were also summer themed (coincidental, but this nevertheless had an effect) which resulted in an increased sell off at the end of the summer months. These factors combined and created a market crash.

From the beginning of 2007, prices continued to fall as the market went into a virtual Habbo 'depression' and many items sunk to lows not seen for many years. It was not until the middle of 2007 that a small reversal in fortunes took hold, where items started to recover albeit rather sluggishly and slowly. It could be argued that the events of the Samovar Crisis (mentioned above), although disastrous, helped restart the Habbo economy in early 2007 and restored some confidence.

Price List

• Throne rose from a price of around 15/20 CS to the 30/35 CS mark. It never returned to its previous level even during 2007.
• Club Sofa increased from a price of around 20/30 RD gradually to a price towards the 60 RD mark. This was driven by a flight from normal rares to a stable currency (the Club Sofa) that would retain its value throughout the 2007 depression.
• Silver Elephant peaked at around 15 CS in the summer and tumbled back down to around the 6 CS level in 2007.
• Bronze Elephant peaked at around 12/13 CS in the summer and tumbled back down to around the 4.5 CS level in 2007.
• White Birdbath peaked at around 18/20 CS in the summer and tumbled back down to around 8 CS in 2007.
• Green Birdbath peaked at around 15 CS in the summer and tumbled back down to around 6 CS in 2007.
• Red Amber Lamp peaked at around 8/10 CS in the summer and tumbled back down to around 3 CS in 2007.
• Blue Amber Lamp peaked at around 8/10 CS in the summer and tumbled back down to around 3 CS in 2007.
• Holiday Romance peaked at around 6/8 CS in the summer and tumbled back down to around 1.5 CS in 2007.
• Hammock peaked at around 6 CS in the summer and tumbled back down to around 1/2 CS in 2007.
• Aloe Vera peaked at around 12 CS in the summer and tumbled back down to the region of 3 CS to 7 CS in 2007.
• Orange Parasol peaked at around 10 CS in the summer and tumbled back down to the region of 3 CS in 2007.
• Yellow Parasol peaked at around 3/4 CS in the summer and tumbled back down to the price of 1/2 CS in 2007.
• Green Parasol peaked at around 3.5 CS in the summer and tumbled back down to the price of 1/1.5 CS in 2007.
• Violet Parasol peaked at around 2.5 CS in the summer and tumbled back down to the price of below 1 CS in 2007.
• Russian Samovar peaked at 30 CS(1T) in early 2007 as a result of the Samovar Crisis - later dropped back to 1.5 CS.
• Holopod peaked at around 15 CS in early 2007 as a result of the Samovar Crisis - later dropped back to 2 CS.

Additional related information for this period

• Habbox was for the first time challenged for over rare values by Vodor.net and HHGS.
• The Rare Values Market and Habbox Rare Values were gripped by the Samovar Crisis which damaged Habbox's credibility.
• The Habbox Rare Values Managers during this period were (in order): Smiddy1234, Mit, -:Undertaker:-, Ymo, J1M1, Immenseman, Lost-Shark and Immenseman (2nd term).
• The Hotel Manager during this period were Callie and Lost_Witness.
• The rares with a high reputation during this period were the newly released Green Wooly Pillow (released for one hour in the early hours) and the Purple Dragon Lamp which became the most expensive super rare and dominated the position until the end of the UK Hotel.