India ranks 13 in housing sector,China tops

Of the 47 countries surveyed,more than half (53 per cent) had witnessed price increases in the residential property segment.

“Growth has been driven by a confluence of factors: low interest rates,first-time buyer concessions,strong population growth and a lagging supply response. However,with interest rates now rising,the government withdrawing stimulus and the supply response picking up,we expect house price growth to slow over the next six to nine months,” Knight Frank Head of Residential Research Liam Bailey said.

India,in the 13th position,recorded a growth of 8.4 per cent in the year ended March 2010 over the year-ago period while China bagged the first position with a growth of 68 per cent.

“A recovery in the global housing market is undoubtedly underway. In Q1 2009,33 per cent of the countries recorded positive annual growth. In Q1 2010,this figure was closer to 53 per cent but still some way off the figure of 90 per cent recorded in Q1 2006,” Bailey added.

China is followed by Hong Kong (30.6 per cent),Singapore (24.3 per cent),Australia (20 per cent) and Israel (15.9 per cent) on the list.

The report said that the Asia-Pacific region saw the strongest growth,with prices increasing by 17.8 per cent on an average.

The top four countries in the list were from the Asia- Pacific region,with China,Hong Kong and Singapore recording an annual growth in excess of 24 per cent.

The countries that occupied the bottom rungs,with the annual price falling by more than 30 per cent,were Lithuania Ukraine and Estonia.