Although it may seem hard to believe, the latest Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors housing report shows that the UK housing market actually did better than the majority of Europe last year.
Only 5 European countries, including the UK, saw a rise in house prices and contractor mortgages last year whilst prices in the Baltic state of Latvia fell by over 50%.
Home owners in Scandinavia enjoyed the highest growth in property prices. In Norway prices rose by nearly 12% whilst the Finns enjoyed an 8% rise and the Swedes 7%. The UK came fifth in the RICS league table enjoying a 1% rise last year.
Although the RICS expect the housing market recovery to be slow, they don’t think that prices will fall again. One thing that could hold back the recovery is another rise in unemployment figures. Only 2 countries, Germany and Switzerland, have seen a recent recovery in the house building industry and therefore time will be needed in order for the supply of new housing to recover.
Property prices in Spain fell by around 10% and the report shows that problems could continue in the country’s housing market.
Elsewhere, countries such as Germany and the Netherlands are starting to recover and although their housing markets are still fragile they should start to see price increases.
Countries that have vulnerable economies are likely to have to wait until they see any form of recovery in their housing markets. In Ireland, house prices dropped by nearly 20% last year and in Greece, a country which currently has major economic problems, prices fell by 6%.
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