A series of interest rate increases by many of the world’s central banks has stalled the pump that had been rapidly inflating global house prices. Experts expect the continuing rises to end the rapid, two-year surge in home values and to slow price growth sharply.
Yet the pandemic-induced housing boom has not ended quite yet. Property viewings in London are still attracting crowds of prospective buyers. Houses are still going for sums that far exceed their asking prices.
Similar pressures are manifesting themselves in other markets. In the US, house prices rose at an annual rate of 20.6 per cent in March, the fastest since records began more than 35 years ago. In the last quarter of 2021, real house prices across the 38 countries of the OECD, the club for rich-country economies, were up 16 per cent in two years. That is the fastest pace since records began 50 years ago.