If you are looking to snap up a property bargain, you should consider buying in Europe now. Thatââ¬â¢s the message from a recent global house price survey that has found that European markets continue to stagnate whilst other regions boom.
Europe is the worst performing of all the worldââ¬â¢s regions, meaning that it is still possible to buy cheap property in Portugal, Spain and Italy.
Europe recorded weakest performance of all regions
Residential property prices rose in 69 per cent of all world locations monitored by Knight Frank, according to their House Price Index research for the second quarter of 2010.
Property prices continued to rise in Asia with the highest price rises reported in Hong Kong, China and Singapore. However, whilst the Asian boom continues, many property markets in Europe continued to perform poorly.
Europe continued to record the weakest performance of all world regions. This means that there are plenty of cheap properties available in countries such as Spain and Portugal; perfect for Brits looking to buy overseas property.
World housing markets recovering
Liam Bailey, head of residential research at Knight Frank, said: ââ¬ÅEach quarter we are presented with further evidence that the impact of the global recession on the worldââ¬â¢s housing markets is diminishing. In Q2 2010 annual price inflation increased in 69 per cent of the locations monitored in Knight Frankââ¬â¢s Global House Price Index compared to 53 per cent last quarter and 19 per cent a year earlier.
ââ¬ÅOn the one hand, government intervention, particularly in the heated Asian economies, is starting to have the desired cooling effect as indicated by the latest quarterly results. On the other hand, economic stimulus measures put in place by many western governments such as ultra-low interest rates, first time buyer concessions and targeted support for banks have encouraged house buyers and this increase in demand has helped push prices higher, albeit moderately so.ââ¬Â
