Investments

Double dip for Dutch house prices

Dutch homeowners are braced for home prices to plunge as the market collapses, according to the country’s biggest firm of house builders.

Royal BAM predicted average house prices will drop 10 to 15%, taking the market down around 30% since their peak in 2008.

In a report to shareholders, BAM  forecast more price drops in 2012 and 2013, adding up in total to a 25% to 30% drop.

“That’s about the level of Spain and I would think that would take us to somewhere near the bottom,” said BAM chief executive Nico de Vries.

“Having previously forecast the Dutch market would hit bottom in the second quarter of 2012, we think it’s unlikely to rebound before 2014 or 2015. From 2015 on, we’ll see a slow inflation linked rise in the housing market.”

BAM posted a net loss of €251 million for the first half of 2012 after showing a net profit of €66 million in the previous quarter.

Brakes slammed on German house prices

A general economic slowdown has slammed the brakes on German property price i.

In the second quarter of 2012, prices slipped by 2.65% compared with the previous three months, after increasing by 3.9% in the previous quarter.

Prices are still going up year-by-year – hitting a 6.7% increase in June, but the rate of increase is slowing.

Average apartment prices were €149,700 in June, while .new detached homes cost an average €250,600 and existing homes €192,950.

Property prices have trended upwards for two years, rising by 5.44% in 2011, and 2.97% in 2010.

Moscow prices rise fastest

The fastest growing luxury home values are in the Russian capital. Moscow prices have soared

28.6%t in five years, says international property consultant Knight Franks

Apartments in some neighbourhoods cost up to US$23,000 per square metre.

However, unlike most other luxury markets that attract purchasers from around the world, 90% of buyers in Moscow are Russian, said a Knight Frank spokesman.

Upfront deposit on off plan properties are the main factor discouraging foreign buyers, said the firm.

“Nowhere else in the world besides Moscow are such advance payments required,” said the spokesman. “Foreigners are not interested.”

Estonia excels

Property prices in The Baltic have also hit a wall after showing some improvement earlier in the year.

The Ober-Haus Baltic Apartment Price Index revealed the prices of apartments in Vilnius, Lithuania, dropped 0.2% in July, with the average price falling to 1,194 litas per square metre.

The number of apartment sales slowed – showing a marginal 0.7% increase in the first half of the year.

Year-on-year, apartment prices were down 1.2%.

Apartment prices in Riga, Latvia, were stable in July with average prices showing no change.

Prices in Tallinn, Estonia, bucked the trend, rising 7.6% in the first half of 2012, compared to the same period a year ago.

Sales have shown a 30% surge in the first half of the year, while transaction values showed a quarterly and annual increase.

Ober-Haus predicts the number of sales will increase during the third quarter, with property prices staying stable.

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