The world’s housing markets continue to surge, and the boom now includes Europe, North America, and some parts of Asia. Of the five strongest housing markets in our global survey, three are in Europe (Ireland (+10.81%), Estonia (+8.99%) and Iceland (+6.19%)) while the other two (Hong Kong (+16.43%) and the Philippines (+6.61%)) are in Asia.
The biggest y-o-y house-price declines were in UAE (-11.72%), Russia (-11.13%), and Ukraine (-10.64%).
During the year to Q2 2015, house prices rose in 24 of the 39 world’s housing markets which have so far published housing statistics, using inflation-adjusted figures. The more upbeat nominal figures, more familiar to the public, showed house price rises in 28 countries, and declines in 11 countries.
Momentum. In Q2 2015, 22 housing markets showed stronger upward momentum, while 17 housing markets showed weaker momentum. Momentum is a measure of the “change in the change”; simply put, momentum has increased if a property market has risen faster this year than last (or fallen less).
Inflation-adjusted figures are used throughout this survey, which covers the period till end of second quarter of 2015. In the case of Kiev, Ukraine, the Global Property Guide adjusts using the official U.S. inflation rate since Ukrainian secondary market dwelling sales are denominated in U.S. dollars, as is the house-price index.
