"UK and the United State are actually the least interesting housing
markets out there! Below is a chart of 11 developed-market home price
indices indexed to 100 as of Q1 2000. The data is taken from the Dallas
Federal Reserve's analysis of global home prices, and uses the real prices of homes: prices adjusted for inflation using the PCE deflator for each country in question."
"Germany and Japan stand out on the chart as consistent losers when it
comes to home price appreciation. Neither market jumped off the line in
2000 - unlike virtually every other economy - and in Japan that
deflationary downward trend is constant. The differences are part
cultural, part economic. In Japan, housing is viewed much more as
consumption than investment, and local zoning restrictions in markets
like Tokyo are often over-shadowed by the government's focus on constant
building and re-building, creating more turnover and density in housing
structures. In Germany, the rental market is much more active and home
ownership rates are lower; the German tax code also doesn't have a
deduction for mortgage interest like many other developed economies."
