There’s nothing like a look at what’s happening in the real estate markets around the world to put Toronto’s mini-slump of last year into context. The Global Property Guide finds the world’s housing markets “recovering unevenly.” Third-quarter stats from the 27 nations that have so far reported, show that 17 have posted house price declines versus 10 that have risen. Decliners include some sporting very deep price dives, such as Latvia (off 59.7%), the UAE (-48.1%), Bulgaria (-28.7%), Iceland (-21.2%), Russia (-19.5%), and Slovakia (-15.3%).
The best performer? Israel, again. For the second quarter in a row, Israel’s gains have beat everyone else’s. This past quarter, the country posted a 10.15% price gain in the quarter (beating its second-quarter increase of 8.4%).
Australia is a distant second, up 4.9% year-on-year for the quarter (Global Property Guide says it’s mostly a result of a “genuine” supply shortage, and notes that interest rates are on the rise).
There are concerns about Hong Kong’s “over-ebullience,” where prices rose 3.1%, a marked turnaround from the 7% decline in the second quarter. House prices jumped 11.1% in the three months to September.
Singapore is also sizzling, with a record 14.3% increase, but that still has prices down 11% for the year.
The U.K., Canada, South Africa and Germany saw their first post-slump price increases (Canada’s hit 0.23%).
Until this week’s news that Dubai is in financial straits, its housing market had been rising at a 7% rate in the third quarter, a huge jump from the 8% drop in the second quarter. But house prices were still down 47% — and that was before the news hit that the nation’s hitherto deep pockets perhaps have a few holes.
No comments:
Post a Comment