Global Property Guide: Housing markets are recovering

The world's housing markets are strengthening, according to the latest survey of global house price trends released by the Global Property Guide (GPG). House prices rose in 24 of the 41 housing markets in their latest survey, which includes all countries which have so far published their housing statistics for the year 2012.

According to the GPG report, some previously depressed European housing markets have been recovering. In Turkey, house prices soared by 10.55% during 2012, in sharp contrast with the 2.39% decline in 2011. After falling the previous year, house prices have also risen in Denmark, Romania, Finland and Sweden in 2012. Finally, Ireland's downward momentum has significantly slowed, and Poland's house price decline seems to be easing.

However, many European housing markets remain very depressed. House price falls have been accelerating in Greece, Spain, Netherlands, Portugal, Slovenia and Croatia. Indeed, the thirteen weakest markets in our survey were all in Europe.

The inflation-adjusted figures of the house price changes in 2012 globally position Bulgaria on 8th place for highest price drops. The market condition here is described as 'less awful than before' with a real annual price drop of -5.42%, compared to -8.67 in 2011, reported GPG.

BULGARIAN PROPERTIES' Chief Operations Manager Polina Stoykova MRICS points out that the negative market trend is fading away as the National Statistics Institute (NSI) registered in 2012 the smallest price drop since the beginning of the crisis - 2.7% nominally and -4.92% after inflation deduction.

"We saw that the Bulgarian market, although with a small delay, follows the overall trend of fading in declines of house prices in a global aspect and started recovering," she said.

"In 2009, according to the data of NSI, the house prices in Bulgaria dropped a record 23.26% in real terms (inflation-adjusted), in 2010 - 12.75%, in 2011 - 9.15% and in 2012 - 4.92%”, she said. According to Stoykova, the most susceptible in terms of depreciation are properties in small settlements outside Sofia, Varna, Burgas and Plovdiv, because the demand is not high there and this can be explained with demographic trends and income levels.

"A positive trend which started last yeas is the increasing interest of foreign investors in the Bulgarian holiday home market", added Stoykova.

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