International Property Journal - News and information on global property markets

Singapore, Hong Kong and Australia were the strongest performing property markets in the world through the first part of 2010, while Europe continued to struggle with the economic tide.

Ireland was the worst performing market, posting a 16 percent drop in prices from a year earlier, compared to a 34 percent jump for Singapore, according to inflation-adjusted data tracked by the Global Property Guide.

Sifting through the rhetoric about declining growth rates and “easing” markets, the latest study of distressed commercial property reveals sharp divisions developing in global markets.

In particular, while the United States and western Europe continue to see substantial increased in distressed sales, Brazil, Russia, India and Hong Kong are among the markets showing signs of stabilization in foreclosures, according to the new survey by the RICS, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.

Prodded by a query from a journalist, Kyero.com managing director Martin Dell recently took on the daunting task of analyzing the vast array of conflicting data on the trends in Spanish property.

Eventually he compiled the numbers from 14 different reports tracking the Spanish market, focusing on three main sources—official data, valuation companies and property portals.

Beyond charting the laughable discrepancies in the government data, Dell concluded the “stand-out figure,” the one reliable fact, is that the number of property transactions has fallen approximately 56 percent from the peak of Spain’s real estate glory years.

Bargain hunting Spain property shoppers are increasingly targeting Alicante, the port city on the Costa Blanca, according to a new study.

More than one-third of the queries to Kyero.com in the first half of 2010 focused on Alicante, compared to 29 percent in 2009, the property portal says. Only 13 percent targeted Malaga, the gateway to the Costa del Sol, down from 14 percent in 2009.

The Moroccan city of Marrakesh ranks as the best value for a second home, based on a recent study of prices in 35 markets around the world.

An apartment in Marrakesh averages £1,265 per square meter (about $1,900), beating out Cairo (£1,300 per square meter); Muscat, Oman (£1,670); Hanoi, Vietnam (£1,945) as the markets with the best values, according to the study conducted by Savills (and printed in the Daily Telegraph).

Despite signs of stabilizations, many European markets could be facing a new drop in prices in the next year, according to a new study.

With the notable exception of Ireland, price drops have slowed in most European countries, including France, Italy, Spain and The Netherlands, according to Standard & Poor’s, the ratings agency. Prices are even rising in the U.K., the agency notes.

But economies are still struggling and many markets remain overvalued, the report concludes.

If you’re looking for a symbol for the Spanish property meltdown, Polaris World would be a likely candidate.

Formed at the top of the market, the company specialized in developing massive, high-density developments in Murcia, an arid region far removed from Spain’s famed costas. Primarily targeting buyers in the U.K., Polaris World built seven developments in Murcia, creating a sea of ridiculously overpriced villas when the market plummeted.

In a decision with far-reaching implications for Spain’s property business, Marbella’s plan to legalize more than 17,000 illegal homes along the Costa del Sol was approved by a regional commission last week.

Marbella, which bills itself as Spain’s version of Monte Carlo, was the poster child for corruption and backroom deals in the go-go days. In the wake of the scandals, tens of thousands of homes were found to have been built illegally, including an estate owned by homegrown hunk Antonio Banderas.

Years in the making, the Marbella town plan is something of a bellwether for the country. If implemented, it could provide a framework for other regions to move forward, without destroying people’s homes.

Headlines from the world of property:

Dubai: Older Offices Have a Vacant Look

New buildings are gobbling up tenants, leaving older buildings to struggle. From the National.

New York: Priciest Condo Takes a Tumble

Price of condo in Philippe Starck building drops $7 million. From Curbed.

If there is one thing European property experts agree on, it’s that housing data out of Spain is fairly worthless.

For example, the most recent report from the National Institute of Statistics (INE) shows the market bottoming out, down only 7 percent in the last year. Catalonia and Madrid saw drops of more than 11 percent, but the rate of declines is slowing, the data shows.

“But it is always worth pointing out that the official index is so detached from reality it is close to meaningless,” Spanish Property Insight’s Mark Stucklin reports. He cites numbers suggesting Murcia prices dropped only 1 percent in the last year. “That is farfetched, to put it mildly,” Stucklin said. .