Login
ISCOVER
By: Staff Reporter
Australia has taken the lead in the global real estate market, posting the best recovery in residential house prices among 12 developed countries, a new report has found.
To continue reading the rest of this article, please log in.
Looking for more benefits? Become a Premium Member.
Create free account to get unlimited news articles and more!
Looking for more benefits? Become a Premium Member.
According to an economic report by Canadian bank Scotiabank, Australia took the reins from Canada – which shifted to second position – to boast the best housing recovery performance in the first quarter of 2010.
This is despite the RBA being the first, among major developed economies, to raise interest rates.
Scotia Economics senior economist Adrienne Warren said a solid economic recovery and strengthening labour markets were supporting rising home sales and prices.
In Australia, inflation-adjusted average home prices were up 17.1 per cent year-over-year in Q1 – a sharp step-up from the prior quarter’s 11.4 per cent increase.
"Improved affordability, low interest rates and government purchase incentives have supported a pickup in sales, which is helping to stabilise prices after the broadly based declines of 2008-2009," Ms Warren said.
Spain’s residential market remains among the weakest of the major developed economies, with home prices declining at around a 6 per cent year-over-year, according to the report.
