6. Israel
> Pct. housing increase: 5.4%
> GDP growth (2010): 4.6%
> GDP (2010): $219.4 (52nd highest)
Israel is the tech and biotech center of the Middle East. Income per capita is high. Tourism also adds a great deal to the nation’s GDP. Israel’s population is also largely concentrated in several cities. This tends to drive values higher in those areas. Israel has 7.6 million residents. Over 2.6 million people live in or around Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, and Haifa.
7. Singapore
> Pct. housing increase: 5.27%
> GDP growth (2010): 14.5%
> GDP (2010): 291.9 billion (41st highest)
Singapore’s property values are influenced by its GDP growth, which is among the fastest in either the developed or developing worlds. GDP per capita is high in the country because Singapore has a number of thriving industries that tend to pay well, including financial services, gambling, and refining. Singapore is one of the world’s most densely populated areas. It has five million people who live in only 268 square miles.
8. Estonia-Tallinn
> Pct. housing increase: 4.94%
> GDP growth (2010): 3.1%
> GDP (2010): $24.69 billion (113th highest)
Talliin, Estonia’s capital city, saw an increase in housing prices recently – a major turnaround from last year’s decrease of 0.66%. However, the turnaround could have been larger considering how healthy the housing market has been in the past. The country joined the eurozone earlier this year and the transition to the euro has caused mass inflation. This has held the market back, writes Peep Sooman, chairman of the Estonian association of real estate companies, in Estonian newspaper Äripäev.
9. France
> Pct. housing increase: 4.65%
> GDP growth (2010): 1.5%
> GDP (2010): 2.145 trillion (10th highest)
Housing prices in France dropped 1.71% last year, before this year’s increase of 4.65%. France’s real estate market has fared much better than other European nations, such as Spain and Portugal, throughout the debt crisis. This increased demand for property higher, what should continue to drive up prices. According to English news site Mindful Money, interest rates are currently low in France and many banks are wiling to lend, making it a good time for French real estate.
10. Switzerland
> Pct. housing increase: 2.19%
> GDP growth (2010): 2.6%
> GDP (2010): $324.5 billion (38th highest)
According to Global Property Guide, there are a number of reasons why the Swiss housing market has done well. These include low interest rates, which spurred strong real estate demand and the fact that Switzerland is perceived as being a “safe haven” by wealthy foreigners. In addition, over the past four years net migration totaled 330,000 people, and as the GPG put it, “after the collapse of house prices in other countries, Swiss citizens and residents moved their investments back to the domestic housing market which is relatively more stable.”
Douglas A. McIntyre
