A mixed bag of news for the global property market

Results of the survey offered good and bad news for the global property market

According to the most up-to-date survey of global house price movements by Global Property Guide, there is both good and bad news according to figures based on the world's housing markets during the full year up to quarter three, 2012. With the majority of the bad news focused on Europe, the scale of the European downturn and the absolute force of the downward pressure continues to shock.

Focusing firstly on bad news provided by the report, many European housing markets are still depressed, and prices are continuing to nosedive. The speed of house price descent is increasing in Greece, Spain, the Netherlands, Portugal, Croatia and Lithuania. 14 countries registered a drop in house prices out of 23 surveyed, while only nine countries observed a rise in the price of residential properties. Indeed, the nine feeblest housing markets in the global survey are all in Europe.

In further bad news, the surge in the Asian housing market has now weakened. 70 percent of the Asian markets included in the survey achieved inferior results this year in comparison to last year. However, judging by the latest quarter's figures, it is evident that the market in China is beginning to recover.

23 housing markets have demonstrated better year-on-year statistics in the third quarter of 2012 than the third quarter of 2011, while 20 markets have exhibited a poorer performance year-on-year, in inflation adjusted terms. However, the nominal figures are even more discouraging with 25 housing markets performing more poorly and only 19 performing better. In conclusion, of the 44 countries for which quarterly house price statistics are obtainable, house prices dropped in 23 countries and increased in 21 during 2012 ending in the third quarter, in inflation adjusted terms.

On the bright side, recuperation of the US housing market is evident.  The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) saw its highest growth since the second quarter in 2006, with the seasonally-adjusted purchase-only house price index rising by 2.31 percent year-on-year in the third quarter of 2012. The countrywide SP/Case-Shiller home price index also grew by 1.92 percent during the first three quarters of 2012, in dramatic comparison with its 7 percent year-on-year drop observed in the same period 2011.

Additionally, the city of Dubai located in the UAE has bounced back powerfully, with the price index for all residential properties swelling by 14.43 percent during 2012 to the end of the third quarter, compared to the minimal 0.96 percent increase recorded in the same period last year.

It is also possible to identify recovery in Pacific housing markets. Indeed, New Zealand's median property cost increased by 5.19 percent in the first three quarters of 2012, in severe contrast with the 4.39 percent year-on-year decline in the third quarter of 2011. In addition, Australia's housing market is also edging in the direction of recovery, with house prices in its eight chief cities declining by only 1.57 percent year-on-year in the third quarter of 2012, the smallest weakening recorded since the final quarter of 2010.

Furthermore, the survey did record some positive news for European countries, with evidence to suggest that the rate of decreasing house prices in Ireland is slowing. Ireland's residential property price index dropped by 13.17 percent year-on-year in the third quarter of 2012, the smallest decline observed since the first quarter of 2011. Moreover, the cost of residential property in Austria, Turkey, Latvia, Germany, Iceland and Finland has increased considerably.

Article source: http://www.thethailandlinks.com/2012/12/13/a-mixed-bag-of-news-for-the-global-property-market/