[size=85:2dtxecrv]novinite 17 June 2010

Bulgaria Ranks 42 on House Price Index

As the international housing market marks a recovery, Bulgaria remains among the countries, which slid further down the rankings, according to a recent house price index report.

Knight Frank says prices increased in 53% of locations indicating that a recovery in global housing markets is underway. This compares to the beginning of 2009 when only 33% reported positive annual growth.

Bulgaria, however, slid further down the rankings to 42nd place in the Knight Frank report, putting it in sixth last position with a 17.8% decrease in prices for the first quarter of the year on an annual basis.

Three Asian countries head the table, with China, in the top spot, showing a 68 per cent increase in house prices since January 2009, followed by Hong Kong and Singapore, while Europe dominates the bottom half of the table.

The worst performing European markets were the three Baltic states and Ukraine although Knight Frank says they are starting to experience some respite with prices falling at a lower rate than previously.

Northern European countries such as Scandinavia, Norway, Sweden and Finland fared better, however, and showed double-digit annual growth and were “less beset by currency weakness and debt crisis than many of their European neighbours”.

The report says that while global housing markets remain polarised, each quarter provides new evidence “that global recovery is gaining ground as the proportion of countries moving into positive territory increases”.

It adds that it remains to be seen if “this is another period of sustained growth or the middle peak in a double-dip recession”.