Knight Frank: Global house price inflation at 8.2%

Global house price inflation in the fourth quarter of 2007 stood at 8.2 per cent, according to the latest research from estate agent Knight Frank.

This is compared to growth of 9.9 per cent over the same period of 2006.

Bulgaria led the way in terms of national growth, with average prices up eight per cent in the final quarter of last year. Price growth was strongest in Vidin in the north-west of the country, along with Ruse in the north-east, close to the border with Romania.

However, prices remain significantly lower than the majority of western Europe.

Included in the research for the first time, Russia also showed strong growth over the course of 2007 – with prices up 70 per cent in 2007 as a whole.

This figure, however, hides marked regional disparities. The price of new build flats in St Petersburg rose by over 75 per cent, while the average growth for 2007 across the city was almost 50 per cent.

Moscow saw slower rates of growth, with an annual average growth rate of 27.1 per cent.

Poland was the third strongest nation in terms of house price growth.

Prices rose over the course of the year by around 22 per cent, according to Knight Frank, although the last two quarters saw falls in growth, of seven and 2.3 per cent.

Far East

Further afield in the Far East, Singapore and Hong Kong both saw strong growth.

In Singapore prices rose steadily through the course of the year to show a 31 per cent increase on December 2006. All property types saw strong price inflation, although the strongest growth was seen in the apartment market.

Likewise Hong Kong, where property prices for all types of property rose by 24 per cent in 2007, saw almost half of that growth occurring in the last quarter alone.

In China, house prices in 70 cities rose 10.5 per cent over the 12 months to December 2007. Growth in Shanghai marginally exceeded the national average with 10.8 per cent growth.

South Africa

Although impressive by international standards, the 12.3 per cent growth recorded in South Africa represents a significant slowdown for the market - and represents the lowest annual growth figure since quarter four of 1999.

USA

The US market remains troubled, according to Knight Frank – following last year's credit crunch and subprime crisis.

House prices nationally have fallen 0.3 per cent over the last year as the 1.3 per cent quarterly decline in the last three months of 2007 negated slight gains earlier in the year.

The only state where prices did not fall in the final quarter of 2007 was Maine.