French prices are +2.8% up on six months ago

Expats in Spain are hit by problematic tenants

Average residential Bulgarian prices decrease by -5%

Continuing volatility in the Gulf region

Singapore’s house prices go up but rents continue to go down

US foreclosures continue to increase

French prices are +2.8% up on six months ago

Figures from the FNAIM revealed that although French residential prices fell overall by -1% in the third quarter, they rose in September and are now +2.8% higher than they were six months ago.

Overall, during the last 12 months, prices in the French market have decreased by a total of -7.8% and there is much optimism that the upward movement in September will be the start of a trend in which the market recovers in 2010.

A healthy lending environment is also expected to aid the property recovery. While mortgage finance in the UK remains difficult to obtain, the French banks continue to lend to borrowers with smaller deposits, even up to 100% loan-to-value (LTV), according to Athena Mortgages.

Athena Mortgages has reported that there has been a +21% rise in Q3 2009 compared to the second quarter in the French property market from UK-based investors. Mortgage completions in the third quarter were also up +14% over the previous three-month period.

In the Normandy town of Alençon, for example, gross yields are 7.5%, while in the medieval town of Poitiers, western France, they are currently 7%. According to Athena, other towns with good prospects are Clermont Ferrand in central France at 6.8% and Tours in the Loire at 6.4%.

In some areas prices are significantly lower with popular destinations such as Biarritz in the south west and Cannes, Perpignan and Nice in the south of France all with properties that are -10% cheaper than a year ago.

Expats in Spain are hit by problematic tenants

According to Paragon España , part of the Paragon Advance group of companies offering tenant referencing and rent warranty in Spain, reluctant landlords in Spain are increasingly experiencing problems with bad tenants hit by the economic downturn.

It is claimed that the number of defaulting tenants and evictions have tripled in the past two years and many of the landlords who are experiencing problems are expats who moved to Spain for a better lifestyle and then became reluctant landlords.

Bryn Cole, managing director of Paragon Advance España, said: “They have been forced into letting out their homes in order to be able to pay the mortgage and, for those investors who jumped on the Spanish property market, buying off plan, only to see it go into freefall before they could offload their investment, they have had their fingers burned and are having to let long term and ride it out.”

Paragon España has found that the number of tenants who default on their monthly payments is increasing at alarming rates with tenants also being affected by the economic crisis and unemployment in Spain.

Many expat landlords are unaware of the different mechanisms in place to secure rental income and often fail to implement them in their rental agreements which can leave them unprotected if the tenant does not, or cannot, pay the rent, according to Paragon España.

Average residential Bulgarian prices decrease by -5%

Average market prices of residential housing in Bulgaria dropped by -5% in the third quarter of 2009, a decline of -28% year-on-year, according to National Statistical Institute figures.

All regional centres saw a decline in prices in Q3, with the sharpest drops in Montana (-16.3%), Vidin (-10.1%) and Shoumen (-10%). In Sofia, the Q3 decline in housing prices was -6%. The fall in Q3 was less steep than in the second quarter, where figures were -10% than in Q1. In the third quarter, housing prices were highest in Varna, at 1770 leva/sqm, followed by Sofia at 1640.33 leva/sqm and Bourgas at 1379.83 leva/sqm.

The lowest average market price for housing was recorded, according to the National Statistical Institute, in Kyustendil, at 545.94 leva/sqm.

Continuing volatility in the Gulf region

According to Abu Dhabi-based Aldar Properties, land sale transactions in the Gulf region picked up in the third quarter of the year and it expects the property market to stabilise next year.

However, a report from the Kuwait Specialist Company for Consultancy showed that property trading volumes were down in September (KD70m) compared to the previous month (KD111m). According to the report, the decline was due to the impact of the world economic crisis and the low commercial activity in the country in general although a slight increase in the level of demand for financial facilities for the real estate sector was expected up to the end of 2009.

Aldar Properties believes the market has been volatile in 2009 as it saw a modest rise in property sales in the first half of the year, but there were no land sales in the second quarter. However, it has begun to pick up modestly in the third quarter.

Singapore’s house prices go up but rents continue to go down

Home prices in Singapore have jumped by +15.8% in the third quarter according to the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) figures, which is the largest surge in house prices in 28 years however this has not been matched by a leap in rents.

URA’s figures show that rents in residential property have continued their decline for the fifth quarter in a row, falling by -2.2% in the third quarter. Since the beginning of the year, home rents have fallen -15.2%. Property prices are down by -5% for the year, after the third quarter surge reversed four previous quarters of decline.

However, Colliers International believes the decline in residential rents has eased considerably and is on the verge of turning and its research shows that rents of luxury homes have already increased by +3.3% in the third quarter.

US foreclosures continue to increase

According to RealtyTrac, the foreclosure crisis in the US affected nearly 938,000 properties in the July to September quarter, compared with about 890,000 in the prior three months and, if this continues, foreclosures are set to hit about 3.5 million this year, up from more than 2.3 million in 2008.

Unemployment continues to be the main reason property owners are falling into trouble.

Already the unemployment rate is at a 26 year high of 9.8% and it isn’t expected to peak until the middle of next year.

Although the Obama administration reported a record 500,000 property owners have received help since the programme was launched in March, new defaults are still exceeding the number of borrowers getting help. google_protectAndRun("render_ads.js::google_render_ad", google_handleError, google_render_ad); Analysts have pointed out recently, however, that many property owners falling into default don’t qualify and they have predicted a new wave of foreclosed properties hitting the real estate market next year and that's likely to further depress property prices.

Banks repossessed nearly 88,000 homes in September, up from about 76,000 a month earlier. Arizona, California and Florida continue to dominate the foreclosure ratings. While Nevada had the highest rates in the third quarter, Arizona came in second followed by California, Florida and Idaho, then Utah, Georgia, Michigan, Colorado and Illinois.