But the global housing markets continue to struggle against a backcloth of economic stagnation or decline and rising unemployment, says the Global House Price Index from Knight Frank.
The worst performers in the first three months of the year were Latvia where property prices fell 36% followed by Dubai, down 32% and Singapore where the market declined 23%. Next worst were the US, down 16.9% and the UK, down 16.5%
And the shorter term economic outlook suggests that the world's housing markets are likely to continue to suffer for the remainder of 2009.
'The world's housing markets remain under intense pressure with little real evidence of any of the hoped for green shoots and even the improvement in performance shown in some countries in the last quarter may yet turn out to be a false dawn according to some commentators,' said Nick Barnes, head of international research, Knight Frank.
He explained that recent projections from the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) do little to promote a more optimistic viewpoint. GDP growth is forecast to drop by an average 4.3% in the OECD area in 2009 while by the end of 2010 unemployment rates in many countries will reach double figures for the first time since the early 1990s.
'The inescapable trend is that the worst and most widespread economic recession since the 1930s continues to batter housing markets across the globe. Rising unemployment and concern among those still in jobs, added to constrained credit conditions, means that buyer demand for housing remains suppressed and confidence is low in most markets which is inevitably having a negative impact on house prices,' Barnes added.
There is sporadic evidence of buyers snapping up relative bargains, however of those buyers in a position to move many are still waiting for clearer signs that markets are approaching the bottom of the cycle.
'Moreover, in a falling market, sellers are usually forced to a greater or lesser extent which means that opportunities to buy are greatly reduced and transaction volumes correspondingly low,' said Barnes.
He also points out that 14 official sources normally used for the index have not yet reported first quarter figures. 'We can only surmise that the data collection bodies have either been unable or unwilling to publish the data to timetable. This is perhaps a reflection of the ailing health of their respective residential property markets,' commented Barnes.