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Guess where the hottest and weakest housing markets in the world are?
The options are Denmark, France, Italy, Belgium, Croatia, Spain, Japan, Switzerland, Finland, Norway, South Korea, Netherlands, the U.K., South Africa, the U.S., Germany, Israel, Canada, Ireland, Sweden, Australia, Luxembourg, and New Zealand.
Housing Prices
Here’s the answer. The hottest housing market in the world right now is New Zealand at +13% year-over-year. The other members of the top 5 hottest include Australia at 11%, Sweden at 11%, Ireland at 9%, and Canada at 8%.
On the other end, housing values are weakening the most in Italy (down 3%), France (down 2%), Croatia (down 1%), Belgium (down 1%), and Japan (down 1%).
Housing Affordability
Housing prices are, of course, only one component of the housing picture. Here’s a look at housing affordability (growth in housing prices less growth in disposable income).
Where would you guess housing affordability is growing the quickest? Interestingly, it’s Denmark. Disposable Personal Income in Denmark is growing 5% faster than home prices. Other countries with moves towards greater home affordability include France (3%), Italy (3%), Belgium (3%), Croatia (2%), Spain (2%), Japan (2%), Switzerland (1%), and Finland (1%).
…[Where are home prices growing faster than disposable personal income? That’s] New Zealand which grew 11% faster than disposable personal income. Other countries in this group include Luxembourg (10%), Australia (9%), Sweden (8%), Ireland (6%), Canada (5%), Israel (4%), Germany (3%), the U.S. (3%), South Africa (2%), the U.K. (1%), the Netherlands (1%), and South Korea (1%). One country is completely in equilibrium – Norway.
Summing Up
Interestingly, the hottest housing market in the world right now is New Zealand, with home prices growing at a 13% year-over-year clip. The weakest housing market is in Italy, where home prices are down 3% year-over-year.
On home affordability, the place where home prices are currently growing the most affordable (not saying the most affordable, just grew the fastest towards affordability) is Denmark, with disposable income up 5% more than home prices. On the other end, the country growing the quickest towards unaffordability is New Zealand, with home prices up by more than 11% over disposable income.
Disclosure: The original article, written by Roger Thomas (ValueWalk.com), was edited ([ ]) and abridged (…) by the editorial team at 
munKNEE.com (Your Key to Making Money!) to provide you with a fast and easy read.
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