Turkey leads the annual rankings with prices up 25% year-on-year. But it’s worth noting inflation currently sits at around 12%. European countries occupy eight of the top 10 rankings this quarter with Baltic and Central and Eastern European nations well represented. New Zealand, Germany and South Korea, three countries that were initially thought to have dealt with the pandemic most effectively registered mixed results. Germany has yet to report Q2 figures, New Zealand slumped from second to 11th place in the rankings between March and June – although it still recorded 9% annual price growth – and South Korea, where price growth was anemic at 0.1% in Q1 has seen annual price growth pick up to 1.3%.
Trends suggest the impact of the pandemic on global housing markets is likely to be inconsistent and irregular. Much will depend on the state of the housing market prior to the pandemic, the length and severity of the lockdown and each country or territory’s reliance on international demand, which has dried up in recent months due to travel restrictions.