During 2021 house prices rose in 49 countries, and declined in only 7 of the 56 world’s housing markets which have published housing statistics, according to a new report by Global Property Guide, which added that particularly in the US, Pacific and some parts of Europe, house prices have continued to rise strongly.

Despite this, the report says that the strength of the global house price boom is slightly deceptive as the figures do not take account of inflation. House prices after inflation, i.e. taking into account the now-rapidly falling value of money in many countries, rose in just 38 out of those 56 markets. So some of the apparent house price rise is accounted for by monetary inflation, not by pure house price inflation.

In 29 of the 56 world’s housing markets, upward momentum after inflation was stronger last year than it was in 2020, while 27 housing markets have shown weaker property price momentum.
When taking into account the inflation figures of each country, the report states: ‘The strongest housing markets in our global house price survey during 2021 included: Australia (17.6%), Turkey (17.3%), Slovak Republic (15.7%), New Zealand (14.7%) and Jersey (14.1%).

‘The biggest y-o-y house price decline was in Morocco (-10.5%), Philippines (-9.8%), Sri Lanka (-9.6%), Peru (-8.9%), and Italy (-6.6%), again using inflation-adjusted figures.’

In its January 2022 World Economic Outlook Update, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) projected that global economic growth will moderate from 5.9% in 2021 to 4.4% this year, with mobility restrictions in some countries as the new Omicron Covid-19 variant spreads.