Global housing markets are accelerating in the U.S., Latin America and Asia, but steep declines continue in southern Europe, according to Scotiabank's global real-estate trends survey.
Canada falls somewhere in the middle of the pack.
"Housing demand remains healthy, but has cooled amid tougher mortgage financing rules and slowing employment and income growth," according to the report. "We see further downside risk to sales and prices as the market adjustment continues."
The survey shows real-estate markets in Spain and Italy performing the worst, while U.S. housing prices increased at the fastest pace in over a decade. A tight housing supply and fewer distressed property sales are contributing to the rise in U.S. prices.
The report noted that after five years of freefall, Ireland's housing market is starting to stabilize, with housing prices showing the smallest decline (4%) since 2008. But a "massive foreclosure pipeline" in that country continues to weigh on the market.
In China, the market is again picking up after price gains slowed in 2011 and 2012.
