Australia in the top ten for house price growth
The Global House Price Index has risen for eight consecutive quarters, recording annual growth of 7.1 per cent, and 11 of the 54 countries listed are from the Asia-Pacific region, Knight Frank reports.
Australia has made it into the top 10 for annual price growth on the index, positioning it alongside several emerging markets, including Estonia (third), Taiwan (fifth) and Colombia (eighth). Other markets in the top 10 include the US, Iceland, China, Turkey and Brazil.
Leading the annual rankings for the fourth consecutive year was Dubai, which recorded price growth of 27.7 per cent in the 12 months to March 2014. Meanwhile, the weakest housing markets were in Eastern and Southern Europe, with Croatia, Cyprus and Greece ranking as the bottom three countries on the index.
Despite eight straight quarters with a rising index, the rate of price growth slowed in the first three months of 2014, rising by 0.6 per cent, compared with 1.2 per cent last quarter, Knight Frank states. However, none of the countries listed on the index recorded an annual price fall greater than 10 per cent”the first time this has happened since 2008.
Knight Frank expects the index’s performance to strengthen again in the second quarter.