Global property markets may be experiencing a slowdown in some parts of Asia, but the boom is accelerating in Europe.
Data from The Global Property Guide showed house prices in 31 of the 41 world’s housing markets that have published housing statistics so far, show prices rose during 2014 using inflation-adjusted figures. The more upbeat nominal figures, more familiar to the public, showed house price rises in 32 countries, and declines in only nine.
Ireland is now the world’s top performer where housing prices surged by 16.62 percent during 2014, a remarkable acceleration from the increase of 6.18 percent during 2013. In all, 17 European markets saw house prices increase more during 2014 than the previous year, and only 5 showed weaker performances.
However, the world is now two-speed. While house prices have continued to rise in the United States, Asia generally weakened, with Japan and Hong Kong being the significant exceptions. China and Singapore’s housing markets are now two of the five weakest markets in the global survey.
According to The Global Property Guide, Asian housing markets are mostly weaker, with two outstanding exceptions. Six of the nine Asian markets for which figures are available were weaker in 2014.
In Singapore, house prices fell by 3.85 percent during 2014 after a decline of 0.9 percent in 2013. In Beijing, China, the price index of second-hand residential buildings fell by 5.67 percent during 2014, after spectacular growth of 16.93 percent the previous year.
In Taiwan, house prices rose just 1.26 percent in 2014, a sharp slowdown after five years of spectacular price rises. In Indonesia, residential prices in the country’s 14 largest cities rose by a meagre 0.39 percent in 2014, down from 2.93 percent the previous year.
In the Philippines, the average price of 3-bedroom condominium units in Makati’s central business district rose by 4.29 percent in 2014, decelerating from 9.86 percent in 2013. In Thailand, housing prices rose by 3.72 percent during 2014, down from 3.87 percent the previous year.
Only three major Asian markets showed stronger performance during 2014. In Tokyo, Japan, the average price of existing condominium sales surged by 8.34 percent in 2014 after a rise of 3.91 percent in 2013. Hong Kong’s residential property prices rose 8.03 percent during 2014 after 3.3 percent growth the previous year. South Korea’s housing purchase price index increased just 0.86 percent during 2014 after falls of 0.81 percent in 2013 and 2.77 percent in 2012.
Andrew Batt, International Group Editor of PropertyGuru Group, wrote this story. To contact him about this or other stories email andrew@propertyguru.com.sg
