See how Canada fared in 2011’s global housing market
The global housing market suffered its worst performance for more than two years in the third quarter of 2011 according to UK property consultancy Knight Frank.
The company’s Global House Price Index rose by just 1.5% in the year to September 2011 – the worst level recorded since the second quarter of 2009 with house prices falling in more than half of the countries monitored in the third quarter.
Not surprisingly, Greece was one of the worst-performing countries, with prices falling 4.1% year-on-year. Hong Kong was the strongest, with prices rising 19% over the same period. However the city-state saw its prices drop 1.1% in the third quarter.
“The third quarter saw mounting pressures on the global economy with politicians seemingly helpless to get to grips with the eurozone debt crisis,” said Knight Frank. “This has reawakened fears of a double-dip recession, not just in Europe but around the world. Unsurprisingly, this economic uncertainty has been reflected in the performance of the world’s housing markets.”
At a regional level Europe was the worst performer, being the only area to record a negative growth (-0.5%) while luxury markets continued to hold strong.
“Luxury housing markets appear to be better insulated from this new weaker phase than mainstream markets,” added Knight Frank. “This is due in part to the scale of global wealth generation, the ongoing search for ‘safe-haven’ investments and the growing divide between prime markets in the West and the rest of the world.”
Other notable countries include China, 6th in the table with a 8.9 per cent rise, Germany, 20th with a 2.8 per cent rise, the US, 39th with a -3.9 per cent loss and troubled Greece, which came 40th, with the average house losing -4.1 per cent of its value.
Canada’s housing market fared well with prices up 4 per cent in 2011 compared to the year before. Rising property prices in Vancouver’s housing market have certainly contributed to this.
Global House Price Index
