South Africa has the highest home-price appreciation

The Mortgage-Pro · Site Admin Joined: 19 Jan 2005 Posts: 2248

South Africa had the highest home-price increases in the past year, according to a report by ResearchWorldwide.com, a company that tracks global real estate markets.

The company reported that home prices in South Africa were up 27.8 percent from February 2004 to February 2005, which topped the list of 23 countries monitored monthly by ResearchWorldwide.com.

On average, house prices recorded an 8.7 percent annual increase in the studied nations in late 2004 and early 2005.

Hong Kong, which saw home prices increase 21.6 percent from January 2004 to January 2005, ranked second on the list of highest global home-price appreciation, while China as a whole had a 10.8 percent increase. Spain was third on the list with a 17.2 percent annual increase.

The United States, with a 10.5 percent increase from fourth-quarter 2003 to fourth-quarter 2004, ranked eighth on the list – roughly even with Norway.

Home prices actually dropped 6 percent in Japan and sank 1.3 percent in Germany from fourth-quarter 2003 to fourth-quarter 2004, the company also reported.

RANKING
LATEST
DATA
% CHANGE ON A YEAR AGO

1
South Africa
2005
February
27.8

2
Hong Kong
2005
January
21.6

3
Spain
2004
Q4
17.2

4
New Zealand
2005
January
16.4

5
France
2004
Q4
16

6
China
2004
Q4
10.8

7
Norway
2004
Q4
10.5

8
United States
2005
January
10.5

9
United Kingdom
2005
February
10.2

10
Sweden
2004
Q4
10

11
Italy
2004
Q4
9.7

12
Belgium
2004
Q4
9.3

13
Ireland
2005
January
8.5

14
Denmark
2004
Q4
7.3

15
Canada
2004
Q4
6.2

16
Finland
2004
November
5.8

17
Netherlands
2004
Q4
2.8

18
Australia
2004
Q4
2.7

19
Switzerland
2004
Q4
2.3

20
Israel
2004
Q4
1

21
Singapore
2004
Q4
0.9

22
Germany
2004
Q4
-1.3

23
Japan
2004
Q4
-6