The Unassuming Economist

Last month, the IMF’s quarterly magazine, Finance & Development, provided a panoramic view of developments in global housing markets. This report updates that article to reflect data on house prices that has come in over the past six weeks. House prices increased in 31 out of the 51 countries we monitor, keeping our overall Global House Price Index inching up.

In this report, we now provide statistics on how long the current cycle in house prices has lasted, plus a summary table on which way various housing market indicators are pointing. As before, links are provided to IMF analysis of housing market developments (new in this edition: IMF views on developments in Brazil, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Slovenia and Uruguay) and links to private sector views.