Britain is no longer top of the European League of house price inflation, according to The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS)'s.

While much of Europe's housing markets continued to flourish in 2004, the UK market has been pegged back due to consecutive rises in interest rates. France is now top of Europe's house price inflation table, following 15.5% gains last year. Spain fell to second place, while Britain is in third. The Netherlands, Switzerland, Germany and Austria occupy the lower end of the table, while Greece, where prices fell 4%, is bottom.

Milan Khatri, an RICS economist, said: "Low interest rates have been the principal driver of rising house prices in many countries, despite some quite moderate economic performances. Any sustained increase in interest rates takes the steam out of markets, as seen in the UK over the last year."

New Peugeot Factory will boost local housing market.

A new Peugeot Citroen plant being opened in Tranava, Slovakia is set to create 3,500 new jobs according to the project's director general Alain Baldeyrou. With one fifth of the work force already recruited and the new factory located just 25 minutes from Bratislava, where property prices have already risen considerably, the housing market in Tranava may now be set to benefit from a ripple effect.

One minor problem however, is that the government will not allow foreigners to buy property until 2007.

The report shows that almost half (47%) of sellers did not get their asking price in the final quarter of last year, up from about 30% who failed to do so in the first quarter of 2004.

Ed Grondel, CEO of FNB Homeloans, said: "Twelve months ago it was a sellers' market. It's (now) a good balance. It's a healthy market. There is now more supply and it is catching up with demand."

Research also shows that 10% of coastal properties in SA are bought by foreigners.

Property prices in Vidin, Bulgaria, which is located close to the Danube River, have soared three-fold on the back of progressing negotiations for the construction of Danube Bridge-II, according to local estate agents. The second bridge on the Danube is designed to span Bulgaria's Vidin with Romania's Kalafat.

Estate agents in Vidin say that they have recording a sustainable leap in prices since the end of 2004, especially small-size apartments, following an increase in interest from foreign investors.

REITs in Asia.

Real estate investment trusts (REITs) have proved popular in Singapore and Hong Kong in recent years. But with rising interest, investors want to see the development of REITs across Asia to create more investment choice.

Investors are attracted to Asian REITS because they have proved a reliable and steady source of income, yielding a higher return than stocks.

Within barely two years, the Singapore REIT market has grown to over S$4B in market capitalisation. Now Malaysia, Taiwan, and Thailand are set to get in on the act by cutting red tape and creating tax incentives to encourage REIT listings.

Sunway City Bhd (Sun City), senior managing director at Datuk C.K. Wong said: ''Being relatively young in the property cycle compared with other mature markets like the US and Australia, Asia offers great potential for growth. As a result REITs should really take off in a big way as properties have greater capital appreciation and rental yield potential."