UK house price growth continues to slow

House prices in the United Kingdom increased 0.4 percent in August as rising borrowing costs and growing affordability problems cooled demand, a new report shows. Read more - September 2007 - Europe

UK, Denmark, New Zealand: facing a crisis of their own?

The United States is not the only country suffering the fallout from excessive levels of debt and the end of a real estate boom - others may be in even worse shape. The economies of the United Kingdom, Denmark and New Zealand face the greatest risk from a combination of weakening real estate prices and rising interest rates. Read more - August, 2007 - News

Changing trends in property prices worldwide

The world’s house price boom has continued in 2007, albeit at a much slower pace and with different set of countries, with Europe's main markets undergoing a dramatic slowdown and the Asia-Pacific region starting to experience rapid price growth. Read more - August, 2007 - News

End of property boom to cool Spanish economic growth

Spanish economic growth will contract to 1.5 percent in 2008, less than half the rate expected this year, due to the end of the country’s real estate boom and a prolonged slowdown in the construction industry, analysts with German bank Commerzbank have warned. Read more - August, 2007 - Europe

Seven-year bull run on global property investment turns bearish

The seven-year bull run in global property and Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) stocks finally stalled in the second quarter of 2007 in part due to the fall-out from the US subprime mortgage market, Standard & Poor’s Index Services said in its Quarterly Global Property & REIT report. Read more - August, 2007 - News

Chinese property market sizzles despite efforts to cool boom

House prices climbed 7.1 percent on average in 70 medium and large Chinese cities in the 12 months to June in a sign that the Beijing government’s efforts to cool the country’s sizzling real estate market have had limited effect. Read more - July, 2007 - Asia

The new potential of old Berlin

Over the last 12 months, Berlin has emerged as one of the world's property investment hotspots but what is the truth, the potential and the pitfalls of this dynamic, cultural and economic metropolis? Read more - July, 2007 - Europe

Canadian home prices rise at “astounding” pace

Bucking the trend in other previously booming real estate markets, Canadian house prices maintained an “astounding” pace of growth in the second quarter of 2007, according to a new report that suggests the price increases will continue for the foreseeable future. Read more - July, 2007 - Americas

UN warns of “inevitable” real estate crisis in Spain

Spain is facing an “inevitable” real estate crisis that will affect a large segment of the population who are struggling under mortgages they can barely afford, the United Nations top housing policy official has warned. Read more - June, 2007 - Europe

Spanish house prices forecast to fall at least 5% in 2008

House prices in Spain could fall by 5 percent or more next year as the country’s 10-year real estate boom ends, research by investment bank Morgan Stanley suggests. Read more - May, 2007 - Europe

Property boom in Turkey: a done deal or a magic carpet ride?

With real estate prices past their peak in traditional investment hotspots, European investors are turning their attention to Turkey as the next country in which to buy property. But, given Turkey’s recent political turmoil and mounting doubts about EU membership, are the hopes of healthy returns a done deal or are investors being taken for a magic carpet ride? Read more - May, 2007 - Europe

Subprime trap ensnares big spenders in the United States

In the collective imagination the victims of America’s escalating subprime mortgage crisis are low-wage earners struggling to buy their first home. But as the fallout from the collapse of the riskiest segment of the mortgage market spreads, wealthier investors who overstretched are also being sucked into the foreclosure hole. Read more - May, 2007 - Americas

Middle East investment in global real estate up 14% to $13billion

Middle East economies currently fund almost a quarter of global real estate development activities, according to Jones Lang LaSalle's latest Global Real Estate Capital Report. Read more - May, 2007 - Middle East

Spain hears that popping sound, as real estate bubble bursts

Panic selling of real estate stocks on the Madrid stock exchange on April 24 may signal the bursting of Spain’s property bubble, with construction firms, banks and the nation’s heavily indebted property owners likely to suffer. Read more - April, 2007 - Europe

Price pain in Spain drives Spaniards to look for investment property abroad

With property prices now sky high, Spain’s 10-year real estate boom is starting to cool and fears of a downturn are causing even Spanish investors to cash in and move out. Analysts expect Portugal and Germany to benefit from the exodus. Read more - April, 2007 - Europe

In India, plenty of room for houses but too few good roads

Property prices across India have been rising fast thanks to the country’s recent technology boom. But if the growth of the real estate sector is to continue, the country's authorities need to start thinking about the roads, highways and other infrastructure necessary to support it. Read more - April, 2007 - Asia

New York, Tokyo, London, Paris: cities of opportunity?

Emerging cities such as Shanghai and Singapore may outperform traditional metropolises in the new knowledge economy, according to a global study by the Partnership for New York City and PricewaterhouseCoopers. Read more - March, 2007 - News

International real estate investment approaches $1 trillion

International real estate investment of US$682 billion in 2006, a surge of 38% over 2005, and nearly double 2003 volumes, a report by Jones Lang LaSalle shows. Read more - March, 2007 - News

SEC probes subprime mortgage lenders

Amid growing mortgage loan defaults by homeowners and a rising tide of foreclosures across the United States, the SEC announced that it would examine the accounting practices at some lenders. Read more - March, 2007 - Americas

Younger Australians struggle with housing affordability

Generation X and Y Australians, stuck in the rent trap and struggling to save a deposit for a first home purchase, may well be called the Rent Generation. Home loan affordability plunged in the December quarter 2006 with 35.2% of median weekly family income required to meet average loan repayments. Read more - March, 2007 - Australasia

Demographics and foreign interest drive real estate in Mexico

Mexico's demographic make up, with a large number of young people entering the job market for the first time, combined with growing interest in second and first homes and investment properties from US citizens is driving demand in Central America's largest state. Read more - March, 2007 - Americas

New Zealand house prices double in decade

New Zealand’s national residential property median price has exactly doubled in ten years, according to the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand’s 2006 Annual Review. Read more - February, 2007 - Australasia

Northern Europe leads 2006 price rises as earlier strong performers lag

Northern European and Baltic countries saw the highest house price rises among major real estate markets worldwide in 2006, but some star performers of earlier years showed signs of flagging growth, a report shows. Read more - January, 2007 - News

Hong Kong developers bullish on mainland real estate

A survey by the consultancy Deloitte indicates that Hong Kong-listed real estate developers are bullish on the mainland real estate market despite challenges posed by macro-economic control policies and tax measures. Read more - January, 2007 - Asia

ING sees real estate remaining a competitive investment in near term

Despite rising concerns in some sectors, analysts with the real estate arm of Dutch bank ING see real estate remaining a competitive investment in many regions of the world over the next one to two years. Read more - January, 2007 - News

High UK property prices drive first-time buyer exodus abroad

One in three Britons would consider buying a property abroad just to get onto the housing ladder, according to the new research out today from MRI Overseas Property. Read more - 2006 - Europe

REIT funds hit $600 billion and rising

A report released by Ernst & Young pegs the global market capitalization of Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) at more than US$608 billion, and rising fast. Read more - 2006 - News

 
Real estate news
Pipes Output
  • Fine Tuning the Picture On the Foreclosure Mess
    It's not always easy to get an accurate sense of how many foreclosures there actually are and which U.S. locales are the hardest hit. June Fletcher explains why.


  • Selling History By the Square Foot
    In a backlash against vinyl-clad McMansions developers are creating communities with houses that look like they were built centuries ago, but with modern trappings.


  • FHA Loans Grow Costly As Banks Add Fees
    Lenders that make loans insured by the Federal Housing Administration are adding costs and restrictions that make those mortgages more expensive for consumers and less widely available.


  • States Move Fast On Mortgage Aid
    Local governments are acting more aggressively to help homeowners avoid foreclosure, frustrated by what they view as the federal government's inadequate response to the mortgage crisis.


  • Five Questions to Ask Before Remodeling
    Before you redo your home make sure you know how big a renovation you can afford and how long you will remain in your residence.


  • Condo-Hotel Buyers See Investments Sour
    Many investors who purchased condo hotel rooms during the real-estate boom are wishing they hadn't. Some frustrated owners are bringing these projects to the attention of regulators.


  • Mortgage Relief Programs Aren't Helping Much
    Up until now, state efforts to help distressed homeowners refinance have had negligible results. A new federal bill may give them additional tools.


  • Property Values: What You Get for ... $500,000
    A three-bedroom converted storehouse in New Orleans; a four-bedroom two-bath house near downtown Anacortes, Wash.; and a three-bedroom home in Maine.


  • Real estate news 2
    Pipes Output
  • Fine Tuning the Picture On the Foreclosure Mess
    It's not always easy to get an accurate sense of how many foreclosures there actually are and which U.S. locales are the hardest hit. June Fletcher explains why.


  • Selling History By the Square Foot
    In a backlash against vinyl-clad McMansions developers are creating communities with houses that look like they were built centuries ago, but with modern trappings.


  • FHA Loans Grow Costly As Banks Add Fees
    Lenders that make loans insured by the Federal Housing Administration are adding costs and restrictions that make those mortgages more expensive for consumers and less widely available.


  • States Move Fast On Mortgage Aid
    Local governments are acting more aggressively to help homeowners avoid foreclosure, frustrated by what they view as the federal government's inadequate response to the mortgage crisis.


  • Five Questions to Ask Before Remodeling
    Before you redo your home make sure you know how big a renovation you can afford and how long you will remain in your residence.


  • Condo-Hotel Buyers See Investments Sour
    Many investors who purchased condo hotel rooms during the real-estate boom are wishing they hadn't. Some frustrated owners are bringing these projects to the attention of regulators.


  • Mortgage Relief Programs Aren't Helping Much
    Up until now, state efforts to help distressed homeowners refinance have had negligible results. A new federal bill may give them additional tools.


  • Broker snap: Upgrade boosts Liberty Int'l (ShareCast via Yahoo! UK & Ireland ...
    Real Estate giant Liberty International led the blue chips Tuesday morning after Credit Suisse upgraded the company to 'neutral' from 'underperform'.
  • Market overview: FTSE 100 down 106 (ShareCast via Yahoo! UK & Ireland Finance)
    1020: Footsie remains well in the red, with only a handful of stocks posting gains. Pub group Enterprise Inns leads the fallers. Liberty International is the best performer after the real estate co...
  • Market overview: FTSE 100 down 86 (ShareCast via Yahoo! UK & Ireland Finance)
    1305: Resource stocks are still leading a sharp decline in the FTSE 100. Ukraininan ferrochrome producer Ferrexpo is the heaviest faller, in line with lower metals prices. Shell and Cairn Energy fa...