The latest data from the Global Property Guide shows that the world housing market is showing signs of recovery. Seven countries have emerged from the housing price slump for the quarter, but many countries suffered significant drops in the first half of the year so the overall picture is still somewhat down, but looking better.
China, Portugal, Australia, New Zealand, France, Sweden and Hong Kong all rebounded during the second quarter of 2009 after having yearly declines in house prices for 2008. These seven nations join with Israel, Switzerland, Indonesia and Norway in recovery or growth for 2009. The inflation adjusted house price change was strongest in Israel for the quarter, with an 8.4 percent increase over the same period in 2008. That is followed by Switzerland, China (Shanghai) and Luxembourg with positive yearly growth.
From the first quarter of 2009 to the second quarter, the largest growth in prices comes from Honk Kong at over 9 percent. That is followed by Norway, at 4.34 percent, Australia, France, Sweden, and New Zealand.
There are still some housing markets that are mired in a slump, with both quarterly and year-on-year prices down. The worst market measured is Latvia, which continues to experience a significant drop in prices. Other nations that are struggling include Dubai, Bulgaria, Singapore and Iceland.
The figures used by the Global Property Guide are price changes after inflation, so they are not as positive sounding as many other data sets. Some countries avoided the downturn, including Israel and Switzerland. Several others saw a turnaround in the first quarter of the year, including Indonesia and Norway.
