Asian property markets are losing momentum, according to new research published by The Global Property Guide.
The influential website noted how the world’s housing markets are now two-tiered, with most of Europe and North America still experiencing strong house price rises while Asia and the Middle East are slowing sharply. It named the five strongest housing markets in its global survey for 2015 as Turkey (+14.32 percent), Sweden (+12.34 percent), Qatar (+10.61 percent), China (+9.12 percent) and Romania (+7.74 percent).
The biggest year-on-year house-price declines, it said, were in Russia (-15.35 percent), Egypt (-14.22 percent), the UAE (-14.09 percent) and Puerto Rico (-14.09 percent).
During 2015 house prices rose in 33 out of the 44 world’s housing markets which have published housing statistics using inflation-adjusted figures. The more upbeat nominal figures, more familiar to the public, showed house price rises in 34 countries and declines in 10 countries, it said.
It noted that Asian housing markets are losing steam, except in China. Seven of the ten Asian markets for which figures are available saw house price increases during 2015, but these were mostly modest increases with only China’s performance very strong. Moreover, only three performed better in 2015 than the previous year.
China’s housing market soared to new highs, after many government measures to support the housing market. In Shanghai the price index of second-hand houses rose by 9.12 percent in 2015, in sharp contrast to a decline of 2.89 percent the previous year. During the latest quarter, house prices in Shanghai rose by 3.79 percent.
The Philippines’ housing market is also slowing, despite strong economic growth. The average price of 3-bedroom condominium units in Makati’s CBD rose by 2.96 percent during 2015, down from increases of 4.29 percent in 2014, 9.86 percent in 2013 and 4.87 percent in 2012. Housing prices dropped 0.84 percent q-o-q during Q4 2015.
South Korea’s nationwide housing purchase price index rose by a modest 2.25 percent in 2015, an improvement from the rise of 0.82 percent in 2014 and the biggest y-o-y rise in since 2006 amidst low interest rates and relaxed mortgage lending rules. House prices increased by 0.7 percent q-o-q during the latest quarter.
Asian housing markets with minimal house price rises included Thailand, with house prices rising by 1.98 percent during 2015, Tokyo, Japan (0.92 percent), Vietnam (0.86 percent) and Hong Kong (0.05 percent). All, except Japan and Hong Kong recorded positive quarter-on-quarter growth in Q4 2015. However, all showed weaker performance in 2015 compared to the previous year.
