THE WORLD PROPERTY JOURNAL

According to Freddie Mac's latest Primary Mortgage Market Survey, U.S. mortgage rates rose for the fourth consecutive week in late September 2018. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage increased once again to its highest level since May.

According to a new report by the Florida Association of Realtors, Florida's housing market reported more sales, more new listings and higher median prices in August 2018 compared to a year ago, according to the latest housing data released by Florida Realtors.

According to new Redfin research, signs continue to point toward a changing market that's letting U.S. homebuyers be more selective as supply constraints begin to ease in the hottest markets.

According to the National Association of Realtors, U.S. home sales nationwide remained flat in August 2018 after four straight months of decline. Sales gains in the Northeast and Midwest canceled out downturns in the South and West.

Median home prices in cities with the top 80th percentile for natural hazard housing risk have appreciated 40% on average over the last 10 years

According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Commerce Department, total U.S. housing starts increased 9.2 percent in August 2018 to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.28 million units.

According to a new Global Retirement Index by International Living Magazine, Costa Rica won the top spot for U.S. expats to retire in 2018.

Panama-based Red Frog Beach Island Resort & Spa announced this week the resort's newest amenity, La Rosa Beach Club. The new addition features event and meeting spaces, a bar, a restaurant, a stunning waterfall and an infinity-edge pool.

According to InternationalLiving.com's 2018 Global Retirement Index, Costa Rica takes the top spot for the first time in the index's history.

The recent 7.1 magnitude earthquake that stunned Mexico City (and surrounding states of Mexico, Morelos and Puebla) is now having a strong impact on Mexico's commercial real estate market.

Billionaire real estate developer and U.S. President Donald Trump, who once considered building luxury hotels in Cuba, is getting set to swing a sky-high verbal crane over the tiny Communist-governed nation.

More than 33,830 rooms in 199 hotel projects are under contract in the Caribbean and Mexico. The total represents a 4.4% increase in rooms under contract compared with January 2016.

Hotels in the two Russian cities of Moscow and Saint Petersburg recently enjoy the benefits of massive tourism inflows with the recent World Cup Soccer event.

Global real estate consulting firm Knight Frank is reporting this week that in the first half of 2018 £5.6 billion ($7.2 billion USD) of international capital was invested in the London commercial real estate market. Hong Kong was second with £5 billion ($6.4B) and Paris third with £1.9 billion ($2.4B).

A new research by price comparison website MoneySuperMarket reveals that the UK is the most expensive location to raise a family in Europe.

According to JLL, the vacancy rate of Moscow's office market continued to decline in Q2, 2018 amid low completions and rising take-up. The current vacancy, at 12.0%, is the lowest since Q3 2008. The decline began in Q3 2015 when it was 17%.

According to Irish property portal Daft.ie, home buyers in Ireland are paying up to 32% more for a property with a sea-view. The research, conducted by economist Ronan Lyons, analyzed over half a million property listings.

The value of homes at number 13 are typically €4,700 ($5,500.00 USD) cheaper than the average Irish property of €254,000 ($296,000) avg. house price nationwide based on Q2 2018 Daft.ie House Price Report.

Based on a new study by China property portal Juwai.com, international Chinese property buyers are split by lifestyle when buying homes abroad. As Chinese international property buyers become more numerous and sophisticated, they are changing the way they evaluate and purchase overseas real estate.

Asian outbound capital deployment remains robust amid a recent slowdown of Chinese outbound real estate investment. In the first half of 2018, outbound investment activity totaled $25.3 billion, led by Singaporean capital.

According to global real estate consultancy JLL, investment volumes in Asia Pacific hit a record-breaking US$81 billion in the first half of 2018, up by 30 per cent year-on-year.

Office rents in Hong Kong's Wanchai/Causeway Bay areas rose by 1.5% month-over-month in July 2018, their fastest pace in three years. The relatively strong growth in the submarket was underpinned by an extremely tight vacancy environment

According to global real estate consultant CBRE, commercial real estate investment volume in the U.S. totaled $118.8 billion in Q2 2018, an increase of 1.7% from Q2 2017.

To minimize the impact of the new vacancy tax, developers are likely to switch more unsold luxury flats from the sales to leasing market.

According to STR, hotels in the Middle East reported negative April 2018 performance results, while hotels in Africa posted growth across the three key performance metrics.

The Abu Dhabi property market heavily favored renters and buyers in Q1 of 2018, with market data showing price decreases in all areas. both apartments and villas across the sales and rental sectors became increasingly affordable in Q1.

According to STR, hotels across the Middle East reported mixed Q1 2018 performance results, while hotels in Africa posted growth across the three key performance metrics.

Residential rents across Dubai registered no change during the first quarter of 2018, helping improve the annual rate of change to -3.1%, from -7.7% at the end of last year.

According to STR, hotels in the Middle East reported mixed performance results in January 2018, while hotels in Africa posted growth across the three key performance metrics.

According to STR, hotels in the Middle East reported negative 2017 performance results, while hotels in Africa posted growth across the three key performance metrics.