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Wednesday 3rd March 2010
UK housing market 'among improvers'
The UK housing market is improving at a faster rate than property prices across most of the rest of Europe, a report showed.
House prices rose in only five European countries, including the UK, during 2009, according to the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.
But other countries continued to suffer a sharp market correction, with prices diving by up to 53%. The group warned that countries with vulnerable economies would continue to suffer from price falls and depressed markets during 2010.
Norway led the revival, with property prices in the country rising by 12% during 2009, followed by Finland at 8% and Sweden at 7%. The UK was the fourth best performing country, with the average cost of a home ending the year 1% higher than it started it, although house prices had risen by 10% from their lowest point in April.
Low interest rates and reviving economies also helped house price falls in many countries be lower than feared, with prices dropping by between 4% and 6% in Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and France.
RICS said although the markets in these countries remained "fragile", they were beginning to stabilise and there had been some price growth. But Ireland, Spain, Greece and most central and Eastern European countries, particularly the Baltic States, continued to suffer steep price falls during 2009.
Prices dropped by around 10% in Spain as there continued to be an overhang of supply, although the report said there were signs that the correction may be bottoming out.
Source: Press Association