Property values have dropped enormously over the past 12 months, however, new data has revealed that an increasing number of countries across the world have now recorded a strong recovery.
According to the latest survey by the Global Property Guide, 19 of the 36 countries surveyed recorded an increase in prices during the year to the end of the first quarter of 2010. As the global economy came out of recession, even those countries that registered a fall in prices witnessed a slow down in the rate of decline.
In Europe, Finland had the greatest boost with an (inflation adjusted) increase of 11.03 per cent. According to the report, house prices are expected to increase further during the course of the rest of the year.
Norway?s house prices increased by 7.65 per cent. This was due to low interest rates and a substantial stimulus package.
In Luxembourg house prices rose by 6.63 per cent, also stimulated by low interest rates. The UK saw an increase of 5.43 per cent, although France and Germany had lower increases of just 0.5 per cent.
House prices in the US continued to decline in the first quarter of 2010 though. A drop of 0.23 per cent was recorded on the Case-Shiller index, but this was a considerable improvement on the 18.68 per cent fall of last year.
In Asia, property prices sprung back more strongly than anticipated in Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan. This is fuelling fears about the formation of a housing bubble in that region.
?The global housing bust is effectively over,? the report concluded.
