Bulgaria Real Estate Prices Rise At Second Fastest Pace In The World, Research Found Out

A slow down on the real estate market was witnessed in Q2 across the globe, shows research by Knight Frank, one of the leading agencies in the sector.

Bulgaria ranked second in the world in terms of price increase on the market in Q2, the data states. Prices in the country rose by 27.1% year-on-year, while in last year's Q2 prices had increased by 12.2%.

Bulgaria moved 8 places up in the chart due to the rapid growth.

Latvia once again ranks first, mainly due to the market in the capital city – Riga where prices rose 37.7%, which is even slower than the 45.3% hike registered in Q2 last year.

Singapore ranks third, immediately after Bulgaria, with a 21% increase in second quarter. The country moved 18 spots up in the chart. Fourth is Estonia, where prices in the capital city Tallinn rose 20.2%. Hong Kong moved 19 positions up in Q2.

Scandinavian countries saw the biggest declines in prices, after some strong gains over the past several years.

Properties in Denmark and Sweden dropped 1.3% and 2.5%, respectively, which pushed the countries, respectively 26 and 22 spots down in the chart. The only exception in the region is Norway.

Properties in Germany rose 6.9% compared with Q2t year.

In Q2 real estate prices have risen 7.8% globally, versus 9.6% a year ago.

One of the reasons for the slow down are the rising interest rates worldwide.

Country2006 Q22007 Q22006 Q2 Ranking2007 Q2 RankingChange in ranking Latvia (Riga)45.3%37.7%110Bulgaria12.2%27.1%1028Singapore5.7%21.0%21318Estonia (Tallinn)13.2%20.2%642RSA14.7%15.3%45-1Norway12.2%13.9%963New Zealand10.6%10.8%1376Great Britain5.6%10.6%22814Canada11.8%9.9%1192Austria8.0%9.2%17107Hong Kong-2.4%8.8%301119Lithuania19.5%8.1%312-9China5.8%7.1%20137Belgium 10.1%6.6%14140Finland6.7%6.1%19154Spain 10.8%5.7%1216-4Indonesia7.7%5.2%18171Austria3.4%4.2%26188The Netherlands5.0%3.6%24195USA9.9%3.2%1520-5France14.3%3.2%521-16Ukraine-0.4%2.6%28226Switzerland3.8%1.7%25232Portugal-0.4%1.3%29245Ireland9.4%0.9%1625-9Greece12.5%0.3%826-18Japan-3.6%0.0%31274Denmark23.3%-1.3%228-26Sweden12.8%-2.5%729-22Germany0.5%-6.9%2730-3