On the track to recovery

The world’s housing markets are showing signs of recovery, according to the latest survey of worldwide house-price indices prepared by the Global Property Guide.

Seven countries have emerged from the house price slump. However, most countries suffered sharp house price falls during the year to end-Q2 2009, so that the general situation remains negative.

After falling for the last five quarters, house prices in France were up by 3.31% during the second quarter of 2009, thanks to government subsidies, and joined Israel, Switzerland, Indonesia and Norway on the list of countries in recovery.The Global Property Guide uses price-changes after inflation, giving a more realistic picture than the (more upbeat) nominal figures usually preferred by real estate agents.