Western Australia bucks the trend

The Australian Property Investor reports that according to September quarter figures from the Real Estate Institute of Western Australia, residential property prices in Perth has risen by 4.4% over the past quarter, taking the median sale price to $308,000 (the highest ever).

Perth's success reflects just how well property markets along Australia's western states are performing, unlike Australia's eastern states, where property markets are generally facing a downturn.

Real Estate In Western Australia (REIWA) president Greg Rossen said: "These latest figures show that despite a downturn in real estate in the eastern States, the sector remains strong in WA for homebuyers, commercial properties and investors."

Romania tops tip

The property market in Romania is set to offer investors the best property investment returns in Europe according to a recent television programme aired on channel four.

The programme estimated that property prices in Romania are set to rise four-fold over the next 10 years due to the fact that Romania faces entry in to the EU in 2007.

The property market in Poland came in second place on the list of recommendations, followed by Portugal in third. The Baltic states of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia are in fourth place, followed by Sweden and Belgium.

The other countries on the top of the list are Slovakia, Slovenia, Finland and Hungary.

The list was compiled on economic data from PricewaterhouseCoopers looking at how quickly the economy in each country is expected to grow and how much the rental returns will be.