UK housing market is outperforming much of Europe

Category: Mortgages
Date: 3/2/2010

The UK housing market is improving at a greater pace than many European counterparts, new figures have revealed.

House prices rose by one per cent in the UK overall last year, according to the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), and by ten per cent since the market low point in April.

Norway enjoyed the most pronounced recovery last year, with the average price of property increasing by 12 per cent. Neighbouring countries, Finland and Denmark reported price growth of eight and seven per cent respectively.

By contrast, countries with poorly performing markets like Spain, Greece and most of Central and Eastern Europe, especially the Baltic States, saw heavy falls of between 27 and 53 per cent in 2009.

Germany, Italy, Netherlands and France saw less marked falls in property prices of between four and six per cent and, though the markets are still fragile, they are starting to stabilise and see price growth.

RICS said that most of the European building industries, with the exception of Germany and Switzerland, are still suffering from the impact of the financial downturn and will take some time to recover.

However, Simon Rubinsohn, chief economist of RICS, said there was clear evidence that a recovery in some housing markets is under way.

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