24 December 2010

One of the leading housing markets of 2010 is the Australian one. Its demand is supported by the low unemployment level, and tight housing supply brings more pressure on the prices.
In case of Canada, in 2010 its housing markets are considered to be one of the best among the advanced nations, though it also showed certain volatility. Very active winter and spring, rising interest rates expectations and the Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) implementation in Ontario and British Columbia provoked an unusually soft summer. The fall, however, brought the sales to a more typical level.
“We can’t say for sure what’s waiting for Canada in 2011, but we don’t expect any rate hikes in the nearest future”, – said Ms. Warren. “The Bank of Canada deferred any further rate hikes to late 2011. This decision was made partially due to an unstable global economic outlook, subdued inflation, and longer-term borrowing costs trends. It may, actually, help maintain the necessary sales level”.
The situation in Europe is quite uncertain. The U.K. real estate market showed a strong recovery pace early this year, but it ended up more modestly in autumn. In case of Germany, it seems that its housing slump may be finally over. France experienced quite a good housing recovery with average prices up 6.8% in the year-over-year comparison (y/y).
Meanwhile, many other European nations saw housing prices decline. In Spain, for example, average inflation-adjusted prices in Q3 fell by 5.2%. The problem lies in the weak domestic demand, housing oversupply and high unemployment level. It all may bring to further prices decline in 2011.  
The U.S. house prices have finally stabilized with average inflation-adjusted home prices down by 0.4 per cent y/y in Q3.