Real Estate

Global real house prices grew strongly in the 2000s up until the Global Financial Crisis in 2008. The fall in the US housing market and rising defaults became a global financial crisis because subprime US mortgages had been packaged into asset-backed securities and sold around the world. The IMF’s Global Real House Price Index reached a peak in 2007Q4 at 60 percent above the 2000Q1 level. When it reached the trough in 2012Q1, the index was -9.6 percent below the 2007Q4 peak. From the trough, the index has grown steadily. It surpassed the 2007Q4 peak in 2017Q2. Among advanced countries tracked by the Dallas Federal Reserve, the countries with the largest 2000Q1 to 2007Q4 increase were South Africa (141 percent), the UK (97 percent), France (90 percent), New Zealand (88 percent), Spain (87 percent), Australia (78 percent), Ireland (77 percent), and Canada (72 percent). From 2007Q4 to the 2012Q1 trough, the selected countries with the largest decreases were Ireland (-49 percent), Denmark (-26 percent), Spain (-26 percent), the USA (-23 percent), the UK (-23 percent), and Croatia (-20 percent). The most expensive residential markets in the world in 2018 by average property price were Hong Kong (1.235m USD), Singapore (874k), Shanghai (872k), Vancouver (815k), Shenzhen (680k), Los Angeles (679k), New York (674k) and London (646k). The most expensive rental markets by average monthly rent were New York (2,844 USD), Abu Dhabi (2,807), Hong Kong (2,777), Jeddah (2,399), London (2,389), Los Angeles (2,312), and Dublin (2,226). The most expensive luxury property markets in 2019 as measured by the number of square metres that can be purchased with 1m USD were Monaco (16 metres), Hong Kong (21m), New York (32m), London (30m), Singapore (35m), and Los Angeles (36m). Hong Kong has long been one of the most expensive real estate markets, but the economic growth and urbanisation of mainland China has seen the rise of mainland cities like Shenzhen and Shanghai. The expense of New York and London reflects their status as the top two global cities in the world.