The Knight Frank Prime Global Cities Index records first quarterly fall since 2009. The value of prime property in the world’s key cities fell by 0.4% in the first quarter of 2012. This represents the index’s first quarterly fall since the depths of the global recession.
Although a milestone, the index’s negative quarterly growth is not surprising. Quarterly price growth has been below 2% since Q1 2010 and it averaged only 0.6% in 2011………………………………………..Full Article: Source

New numbers last week on Canada’s condo-juiced housing market are fanning fresh worries about a bubble in Canadian real estate. This week brings another temperature reading on the housing market – sales of existing homes for April.
And Bank of Montreal deputy chief economist Doug Porter is forecasting a healthy 10 per cent year-over-year gain. He also expects prices to rise, paced by Toronto’s hot housing market………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The oft-repeated axiom in real estate is “location, location, location.” Even housing “bears” recognize that there is no such thing as a Canadian real estate market. Granted there are macro factors that affect all regions equally, most notably the cost and availability of credit, but regional markets vary widely in terms of their fundamentals and, by extension, their vulnerability to a price correction.
The two markets that currently concern me the most are Vancouver and the Toronto condo market………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The devastation of the US housing market in the global financial crisis is well known. Since 1950, the US has averaged more than 1 million new houses annually, but in the past three years, that number has fallen to 500,000 a year.
”The US will have its biggest land shortage in history. The property market must come back at new house level - Americans will always want a new house,” property veteran Michael Drapac said………………………………………..Full Article: Source

It’s been a scary few years for the housing market. But at some point, the nightmare has to end (please?). Is now the time? Should first-time home buyers consider jumping into the market?
After all, home prices have fallen 34% from their 2006 peak and mortgage rates are hovering at or near record lows. On one side are those who argue that homes are more affordable than they have been in decades, based on how much monthly income a mortgage consumes and whether owning is less costly than renting………………………………………..Full Article: Source

According to the Miami Association of Realtors, limited housing supply in Miami-Dade County coupled with heightened demand fueled robust price appreciation in the first quarter of 2012. This was in spite of a significant percentage of closed home sales being short sales and REOs (bank-owned) properties.
The median sales price for single-family homes in Miami-Dade County rose 14 percent to $174,799 in the first quarter of 2012 compared to the first quarter of 2011. The median sales price for condominiums was $129,500, a 38 percent increase year-over-year………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Demand for the world’s priciest houses is likely to cool this year after two years of strong growth, as concerns over Europe’s debt crisis, the health of the global economy and governments price cooling measures in Asia dissuade buyers, research showed.
Data from property consultancy Knight Frank showed the average price of luxury homes across 23 key world cities fell for the first time since 2009 by 0.4 percent in the first quarter of 2012, reflecting slowing demand………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Worsening financial and political turmoil in southern Europe caused a surge of interest in London property last month with buyers from Greece and Spain showing strongly among investors seeking a safe haven for their money.
The number of Greeks searching for homes costing more than 1.5 million pounds ($2.4 million) on the website of property agent Savills (SVS.L) jumped 39 percent in April compared with the average of the preceding six months, the company said………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The average property in Scotland is being sold for £17,500 less than the asking price, a survey has suggested. The s1homes house price report found the average asking price in the past three months was almost identical to the previous quarter, at £166,386.
But the price fetched by properties fell from £157,197 in the three months to December to £148,764 in the most recent quarter………………………………………..Full Article: Source

At a time when many of its peers are floundering and being forced to liquidate their funds, German open-ended fund manager Deka Immobilien is on a buying binge.
In the past month alone, the fund manager has struck twice in Amsterdam, snapping up landmark buildings for unprecedentedly high yields………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Invesco Real Estate (IRE), the global real estate investment manager, is pleased to announce the acquisition of two modern logistics properties in Cologne, Germany and Norrkoping, Stockholm for ca. €83 million for one of its pan-European fund mandates.
The first acquisition is a 29,500 m² logistics center in Frechen near Cologne, Germany, which was built in 2006 and extended at the end of 2011. The asset is strategically located close to the A1, one of Cologne’s principal national motorways………………………………………..Full Article: Source

After considerable growth of retail real estate investment deals in Russia in 2010-11, a major intrigue is the possibility of active expansion of institutional investment deals into regional markets. We already see that such high-quality retail assets as Karnaval in Chekhov and Victory Plaza in Ryazan are coming to the investment market.
Deals with these shopping centers at fair prices will demonstrate to Russian and international players that liquidity and yield compression are back on the agenda of regional retail investment. Besides these new dynamics we expect will motivate the kickoff of a new development cycle for construction of modern quality retail schemes in cities with a population of 300,000 to 700,000………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The latest figures for the Portuguese property market show that prices and sales continue to fall across the country. The March 2012 price index from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and Confidencial Imobiliário show that the property market continues to struggle in Portugal, mainly due to limited demand from both domestic and overseas buyers.
The most recent RICS survey shows a continuing negative outlook for the Portugal property market………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Indian billionaire Adi Godrej said real estate will deliver his company’s fastest growth over the next five years as foreign rivals such as Unilever Plc and Procter & Gamble Co. constrain his flagship consumer-goods unit.
“The strongest growth potential we see is in our property- development business,” Godrej, chairman of the Godrej Group, said in an interview at his office campus on the outskirts of Mumbai. “No one has any significant market share. It is divided among a large number of players.”……………………………………….Full Article: Source

While buying a house, majority of the Indians prefer a ready-to-move property than new launches, a recent study has said. “About 74 per cent home buyers across India are negotiating for a ready-to-move property,” real estate market news portal Track2Realty’s survey titled ‘Home Buyer’s Satisfaction Index’ said.
The survey says out of the remaining 26 per cent, who opted for new launches for price discounts, as many as 82 per cent were now repenting their decision, mainly due to delays in the project completion………………………………………..Full Article: Source

China’s home sales transaction value fell 16 percent in April from the previous month as the government reiterated it will keep curbs on the property market.
The value of homes sold declined to 315.4 billion yuan ($50 billion) from 373.3 billion yuan in March and 324.9 billion yuan a year earlier, based on the difference between the National Statistics Bureau’s data for the first four months of the year and the first quarter. Housing sales value from January to April fell 13.5 percent to 1.02 trillion yuan from a year earlier, according to the data………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Specific measures in the federal budget will damage the growing level of foreign investment in Australia’s commercial property sector, according to a key property group.
The Trust Company, a leading property and infrastructure custodian, said the budget proposal to double the final withholding tax rate (WHT) from 7.5 per cent to 15 per cent for foreign property investors put Australia’s status as a prime investment destination in doubt………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The level of vendor discounting and the average time on market are important vendor metrics to understand as they provide an insight around selling conditions in the marketplace.
Vendor discounting is simply the difference between the price at which a property is initially listed for sale and the price at which it ultimately sells for. Time on market, on the other hand, is the difference between the date when a property is first advertised for sale compared to the contract date of a sale………………………………………..Full Article: Source

National Australia Bank chief executive Cameron Clyne says house prices could decline further, but he expects the Reserve Bank of Australia to cut interest rates by another 0.5 of a percentage point this year.
Mr Clyne said that unemployment, which dropped to 4.9 per cent last month, was the key to future house price movements………………………………………..Full Article: Source