The United States isn’t the only country that is worrying about its housing market. There’s a glut of housing in Spain and Ireland, where home building grew by 187 percent and 177 percent respectively between 1996 and 2006. Home prices in Ireland are falling, while Spanish numbers still show a small annual increase.
Meanwhile, there's positive news in other parts of the world. New Zealand house prices are 82 percent higher than they were in the last quarter of 1999, and have risen by 70 percent relative to household income. However, rising food and fuel prices are expected to cause a price correction.
Housing news is mostly good in Singapore and Hong Kong, which have benefited from the booming Asian economy. An analysis by DTZ Debenham Tie Leung, an estate agency, found that the number of homes bought by foreigners in Singapore jumped by 71 percent last year.
Source: The Economist (05/24/2008)
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