Property Price Indicators Increasing Globally

Posted by admin on October 14, 2009 under Uncategorized | Be the First to Comment

LONDON – Oct. 14, 2009 – Real estate markets worldwide are stabilizing and showing signs of a tentative recovery, according to a newly released report from London-based global property consultancy Knight Frank.

The quarterly Knight Frank Global House Price Index shows property values increasing in almost half of 32 countries surveyed during the second quarter of this year. “Significantly, quarterly price falls accelerated in only 22 percent of the locations and did not exceed 10 percent in any country,” says Liam Bailey, head of residential research for Knight Frank. “This compares with double-digit falls in a number of locations during the first quarter.”

Some of the strongest signs of recovery are coming from the Nordic countries, with prices up over the previous quarter by 5.3 percent in Norway, 3.9 percent in Finland, and 3.6 percent in Sweden. But countries as diverse as Australia, Israel, and the Netherlands also are posting solid gains.

In some places, demand is being spurred by historically low borrowing costs and homebuyer tax incentives. Sweden’s central bank, for example, has slashed the prime interest rate from 3.75 percent a year ago to only 0.25 percent today, so banks there are now offering home loans at interest rates as low as 1.5 percent. Read more of this article »

Many Economists Say Recession is Over – Expansion has Begun

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NEW YORK (AP) – Oct. 14, 2009 – More than 80 percent of economists believe the U.S. recession is over and an expansion has begun, but they expect the recovery will be slow as worries over unemployment and high federal debt persist.

That consensus comes from leading forecasters in a survey by the National Association for Business Economics released Monday.

“The survey found that the vast majority of business economists believe that the recession has ended but that the economic recovery is likely to be more moderate than those typically experienced following steep declines,” said NABE President-elect Lynn Reaser, chief economist at Point Loma Nazarene University.

The forecasters upgraded the economic outlook for the next several quarters, but cautioned that unemployment rates and the federal deficit are expected to remain high through next year. Forecasters now expect the U.S. economy, as measured by gross domestic product, to advance at a 2.9 percent pace in the second half of the year, after falling for four straight quarters for the first time on records dating to 1947. They expect a 3 percent gain in 2010.

Still, the federal deficit has ballooned and the jobless rate is expected to lag behind, as employers remain cautious. Read more of this article »