THE WORLD PROPERTY JOURNAL

According to Zillow's August Real Estate Market Report, home value growth returned to a steady pace in August 2019 after a slowdown in the first half of the year. Quarter-over-quarter growth reached an annualized rate of 3.4%, up from 0.4% in May.

According to the National Association of Realtors, U.S. existing-home sales inched up in August 2019, marking two consecutive months of growth. Three of the four major regions reported a rise in sales, while the West recorded a decline last month.

According to ATTOM Data Solutions newly released Q2 2019 U.S. Home Flipping Report, 59,876 U.S. single family homes and condos were flipped in the second quarter of 2019, up 12.4 percent from the previous quarter, but down 5.2 percent from a year ago.

Led by a surge in multifamily production, total housing starts rose 12.3 percent in August 2019 to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.36 million units from an upwardly revised reading in July 2019. This is the highest level since May 2007.

According to the latest National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI) released this week, U.S. builder confidence in the market for newly-built single-family homes rose one point to 68 in September 2019 from an upwardly revised August 2019 reading of 67.

Life insurance companies have an appetite to increase their multifamily lending volumes by approximately $10 billion in 2020.

Slovenia is home to the world's fastest rising house prices with average values accelerating 18.2% year-on-year. Falling unemployment, low interest rates and until recently, limited supply, are behind the strong price growth.

Panama, the winner of the 2019 Global Retirement Index, has been a constant in the Index, but this year marks the 10th time it's reached the #1 spot--climbing from third place to scoop the top prize.

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.

UK house prices remained flat in August 2019 to leave nationwide annual growth at 0.6%. Savills now expects average house price growth to be flat in 2019, down from the prediction of 1.5% growth predicted last November 2018.

According to Ireland property portal Daft.ie, the number 13 is a very unlucky when it comes to Ireland home addresses, or dates on a calendar when selling.

In 2018 hotels in the city saw a 10.6% increase in RevPAR [rooms revenue per available room] year-on-year, but visitor numbers took a knock at the end of the year and the start of 2019 with the unrest caused by the 'gilets jaunes' movement.

According to Daft.ie, Ireland rents rose by an average of 6.7% nationwide, in the year to June 2019. This marks the lowest rate of rental inflation across the country since the final quarter of 2013.

According to International property consultant Knight Frank, political uncertainty continues to have a tangible impact on sales activity in London's Prime Residential marketplace.

Knight Franks' latest Prime Global Cities Index, which tracks the movement in luxury residential prices across 46 International cities, increased by 1.4% in the year to June 2019, up marginally from 1.3% in March 2019 but still significantly lower than its four-year average of 3.8%.

According to new research by global property consultant JLL, Singaporean real estate investors have emerged Asia Pacific's number one source of outbound capital in the first half of 2019, and their overseas deals are growing in scale and complexity.

Hong Kong's current political crisis and economic uncertainty could make almost anyone despair for the future of the property market in this Special Administrative Region of China.

Hong Kong's central region office vacancy rate rises to a three-year high as commercial tenants are now delaying expansion plans.

Global real estate consultant JLL is reporting this week that after a bumpy 2018, investment in global commercial real estate cooled in the first half of 2019 with year-on-year volumes dropping by 9% to $341 billion.

Significant changes are in play in Japan's office market in 2019. The three most cited reasons for workplace change were "to accommodate varied work styles", "to improve productivity", and "to improve employee satisfaction."

According to new research by global real estate consultant JLL, smart city initiatives in Asia Pacific will not reach their potential if they focus on delivering cutting-edge technologies without paying enough attention to the needs and experiences of citizens.

According to the Property Monitor's latest Dubai House Price Index, the average annual house price in Dubai decreased by 12% in March 2019, with some communities registering even higher price declines.

According to the latest Dubai House Price Index, the average annual home price in Dubai decreased by 10.6% in February 2019, with some communities registering even higher price declines.

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.