Housing market problems have been the norm for the last few years in the UK as the economy struggles to gain a foothold toward recovery.  Outside of the UK there remains a problem with other countries’ housing markets as well.  Spain has had a very bad problem with repossessions and despite foreign buyers coming in to take advantage of high value property for little cost investments there remains a struggle for buyers to come back at even close to a healthy level.

The US has some rebounding but much of the major markets remain weak.  Many high profile and populated areas have had property values fall below 25 per cent of their values before the credit crisis.  Repossessions remain a problem and mortgage lending is tight.  Remortgaging is difficult as equity levels have plummeted.

According to house price indices by Global Property Guide in 2011 there were 22 of 35 countries that had declining house prices in the final quarter.  Only 13 of the 35 countries experienced an increase in house prices.  Of the 35 countries with data available there were 21 housing markets that performed worse in 2011 than they did in 2010. 

The Asian housing market which had experienced growth seems to have hit its ceiling.  Asian markets performed poorly in 2011 when in comparison to 2010.  For instance, in 2010 there was a house price increase in Hong Kong of 18.87 per cent but in 2011 there was a price increase of only 5.32 per cent for the year.  For the final quarter of 2011 Hong Kong house prices fell 5.24 per cent and Singapore house prices fell 0.67 per cent. 

In 2011 Taiwan house prices fell by 8.74 per cent but in 2010 there had been an increase of 9.70.  Shanghai, China had declines of 3.23 per cent for 2011 and Tokyo, Japan had a decrease of 3.69 per cent.  It is expected that house prices will continue to decline in months ahead.

The strongest housing markets in 2011 were seen in Delhi and Brazil followed by New Zealand and Australia.  Much of Europe had a struggling housing market with declining house prices in 2011.