Having risen for eight consecutive quarters, property price growth around the world slowed during the first three months of 2014.
The Knight Frank Global House Price Index rose by 0.6 percent in the first quarter, down from 1.2 percent during the previous quarter. Dubai topped the annual rankings, but prices rose by only 3.4 percent during the first quarter, compared to a 9.2 percent jump over the same period in 2013.
Regionally Malaysia’s annual property price growth was recorded at 8 percent, however growth during the last three months stood at just 0.3 percent. Indonesia saw annual price growth of 9.1 percent, and 2.6 percent quarter-on-quarter during the first three months of this year.
Singapore’s weak property market was reflected with an annual drop of 0.1 percent, with the city-state recording a 1.3 percent decline in prices during Q1 2014.
Croatia, Cyprus and Greece were the weakest-performing housing markets in the 12 months ending March 2014. The United States, Australia and Iceland now sit alongside several emerging markets in the top ten rankings for annual price growth.
For the first time since 2008 the Index saw no country record annual price falls of more than 10 percent. A total of 11 of the 54 countries that form the Index are in Asia-Pacific.
A total of 14 countries recorded a decline in house prices year-on-year. Twelve of these are in Europe, with Singapore and Japan being the only two non-European countries.
Nicholas Holt, Head of Research for Asia Pacific for Knight Frank, said: “Cooling measures and tighter mortgage lending conditions have halted price growth in Singapore, whilst in Japan “abenomics” has yet to push house price growth into positive territory.
“We expect to see the index’s performance strengthen again in the second quarter.
“All eyes will remain on central banks, in particular the Federal Reserve, the Bank of England and the European Central Bank. The issue is not when interest rates rise but the speed and extent to which they do.”
The Knight Frank Global House Price Index was established in 2006. It allows investors and developers to monitor and compare the performance of mainstream residential markets across the world. The index is compiled on a quarterly basis using official government statistics or central bank data where available.
Thailand is not monitored in this report due to a lack of available public data.
Andrew Batt, International Group Editor of PropertyGuru Group, wrote this story. To contact him about this or other stories email andrew@propertyguru.com.sg
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