House prices are overvalued
According to The Economist, house prices in most parts of the world are still overvalued when compared to their historic norms, despite falling prices.
House prices were compared to rents in various countries. Looking at the ratio of prices to rents only three countries look cheap: the US, Japan and Germany.
Germany 12.8% undervalued -up 0.9%
Japan 35.8% undervalued -down 3.3%
USA -11.4% undervalued -down 5.1%
Hong Kong 63.7% overvalued -up 23.9%
Australia 50.1% overvalued -down 0.2%
France 48.5% overvalued -up 8.7%
Spain 39.2% overvalued -down 4.7%
Sweden 35.8% overvalued -up 2.1%
Britain 27.8% overvalued -down 1.2%
Ireland 22.9% overvalued -down 12.2%
Canada 21.2% overvalued -up 2.0%
Belgium 20.5% overvalued - up 5.5%
Denmark 18.3% overvalued -up 2.2%
New Zealand 17.6% overvalued -down 1.6%
Singapore 17.3% overvalued -up 10.1%
Netherlands 16.9% overvalued -down 2.1%
Italy 8.7% overvalued -down 1.6%
Switzerland 5/5% overvalued -up 4.4%