The Global Distressed Property Monitor in November 2009 from the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) has revealed that in Q3 2009 there has been an increase in distressed properties coming to the market in all but four of the 25 countries it covers, however there were some signs of improvement on Q2.

South Africa, the US and Portugal had the biggest volumes of distressed commercial listings, whilst China, Hong Kong and Brazil all saw a decline in the number of properties coming to market.

The report stated that real estate professionals continued to expect a rise in distressed properties coming on to the market into Q4 2009 across 19 of the 25 countries surveyed, with Russia, the US, Spain and Ireland expected to see the biggest rises. Agents in Brazil, Hong Kong and

India meanwhile are more optimistic and expect fewer distressed assets to be listed in Q4.

The situation in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and South Africa appears to be improving somewhat with a stabilisation expected in properties hitting the market in Q4, after a sharp pick up in the previous quarter. Similarly, little change in distressed listings is expected in Japan, Australia and Czech Republic according to the report.