‘London, New York, Hong Kong, Istanbul…. Birmingham – the global property market unwrapped’

By James Forrester, Managing Director - Barrows & Forrester
 
Who would have predicted that 15 months after a global pandemic had been declared, property prices worldwide would be higher than pre-pandemic levels?
The surprising truth is that there are but a handful of countries that have seen declines in residential home values and these include India, Morocco and Malaysia.
Leading the way in the past year or so and at least until Q1 of this year, the period for which data is available, are in order:
1. Turkey +32%
2. New Zealand +22%
3. Luxembourg +16%
4. Slovakia +15%
5. The USA +13%
12. UK +10%
There are a total of thirteen countries that have seen double-digit growth in that time. It’s rather remarkable.
 

 
Or is it? Because in much the same way that when a global crisis hits investors retreat to the dollar and to gold, doesn’t it make sense for us ordinary folk and property investor types too to lean into an asset class that is safe? Literally, as safe as hous...