Why house prices are surging once again

Jun 16th 2024

|

San Francisco

Is a fresh housing boom under way? In April a house-price index for the world, excluding China, rose by more than 3% year on year (see chart 1 ). American house prices are 6.5% higher than a year ago, Australian ones have increased by 5% and Portuguese ones are soaring. In other countries, the market looks surprisingly strong given years of high interest rates (see chart 2).

This article appeared in the Finance & economics section of the print edition under the headline “The great escape”