23/06/2010 - Asia Pacific property on top of world
Asia Pacific countries have taken the lead as the quickest growing property markets in the world. An independent survey of 47 countries by real estate agents Knight Frank revealed China as the new world leader in the housing market, producing a 68% annual price rise.
Other Asia-Pacific countries experienced smaller price rises, Australia being named as the 4th largest with a 20% annual price increase and New Zealand ranking at 15th with a 6.8% rise.
"The top four positions in our rankings are all occupied by Asia-Pacific locations, whilst Europe dominates the bottom half of the table..." said Liam Bailey, the head of residential research.
Sustained growth can be seen as property price falls slowed in most depressed markets...in fact 25 countries have all reported increases with price drops mostly attributed to European countries.
Prices for Britain rose by 8.8% as Asian investors have been attracted by a weak pound and a rise in rents. The US however experienced a small price rise of only 2.3%. Although, last year's best performer Dubai suffered the worst drop, falling by 8%.
The report shows that there is new evidence of recovery however it remains to be seen whether this is a time of sustained growth or just a plateau in a recession ready to slide downwards once more.