House prices across the world continue to surge, with the property boom now present in Europe, North America, and some parts of Asia, says a new study.
Property prices rose in 28 countries in the second quarter of this year, declining in just 11, according to research firm Global Property Guide.
Of the five countries that recorded the strongest house price growth, three were in Europe and the remaining two were in Asia, the research suggested.
Hong Kong was the top performer in the global house price survey. Hong Kong's residential property prices surged 16.4pc in the year to the end of June, a sharp turnaround from a drop of 0.66pc in 2014.
The 10 markets showing strongest house price growth
- Hong Kong, up 16.43pc
- Ireland, 10.81pc
- Estonia, 8.99pc
- Philippines, 6.61pc
- Iceland, 6.19pc
- Japan, 6.13pc
- US, 5.39pc
- Israel, 5.22pc
- New Zealand, 5.19pc
- Romania, 4.83pc
Overall, 13 of the 20 European housing markets for which figures are available saw house prices rise in the past year.
Ireland, which took second place overall for house price growth, has seen residential property prices boom at a blistering pace after bottoming out in 2013.
Prices rose 10.8pc in the year to the end of June, prompting the OECD to warn that rapidly rising house prices could pose one of the biggest risks to the country's financial stability.
The think tank noted that an uncontrolled property boom would "increase vulnerabilities, especially if it were associated with further indebtedness".
Ireland's housing boom. Source: OECD
Estonia was the second-best performer in Europe, and the third-fastest rising housing market in the survey. This was despite prices levelling compared to last year. In the capital Tallinn, the average price of dwellings rose by 9pc during the year to June, considerably less than the increase of 16.1pc during the same period last year.
Other strong European housing markets included Romania, where house prices rose 4.8pc during the year. Norway, the UK and Germany recorded growth of around 4pc.
Estonian capital Tallinn recorded house price growth of 9pc in the year to June Photo: Getty/ Flickr
However, some of Europe remains depressed, the report said. Russia was the second-weakest housing market in the survey, and saw the biggest annual house price decline in Europe.
Russia's residential property prices dropped 11.1pc in the year to June, the biggest annual drop since Q4 2011.
Ukraine's housing market continues to struggle, amid an economic and political crisis.
In Kiev, average prices of new residential properties plunged 10.6pc during the year, and fell 1.6pc between April and June on a quarter-by-quarter basis. These sharp house price falls are mainly attributable to the high interest rates imposed to fight hyperinflation, the authors said.
Other weak European housing markets included Greece, Spain, Cyprus and Croatia.
An aerial view of the man-made Palm Jumeirah island built by Nakheel property giant off the coast of the Gulf emirate of Dubai Photo: AFP
Overall, the UAE, Russia and Ukraine recorded the biggest year-on-year declines in house prices in the global survey, falling by 11.7pc, 11.1pc and 10.6pc respectively.
House prices have been steadily falling in Dubai over the past couple of years, affected by a number of factors including a slump in the price of oil, weaker currencies in Russia and Europe, and generally weaker demand for houses among expats.