In Cuba houses never sell, just swap

Walk down almost any street in the Cuban capital and it’s easy to spot the cheap hand-painted cardboard signs saying Se Permuta, meaning “Home for Swap.”

When Cubans want to move, these are the words they use. The “For Sale” sign familiar to Americans is banned; after all, you can’t sell what you aren’t allowed to own. So a family looking for an apartment with an extra bedroom for a new baby might swap with an older couple whose children have moved out. Run largely on word of mouth, the permuta is typical of the elaborate schemes Cubans have developed to work within the country’s socialist strictures.

“It may sound odd, but it works,” said Gladys Jane, 60, hunting for a house swap the other day on the Prado Avenue, a shady street on the edge of the historic colonial district that serves as Havana’s unofficial permuta market.”*

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