The decline in real global housing prices accelerated in the first quarter, with Canada leading the way among advanced economies, according to new data from the Bank for International Settlements (BIS).
In a new report, the BIS said that real housing prices were down by 1.2% on a year-over-year basis in the first quarter of 2026, compared with prices falling at a 0.5% rate in the previous quarter.
Prices were down 0.2% in the advanced economies, while emerging markets saw prices fall off by 2%, it noted.
Canada led the drop in prices among advanced economies, down by 7%, the BIS said. Prices were also down by 7% in China, which drove the decline in emerging Asia.
On a global basis, prices are still up 2.7% since the onset of the Covid pandemic in the fourth quarter of 2019, the report noted. Yet, China and Canada have seen prices decline 22% and 9%, respectively, over that period.
Longer-term, global prices are still up 20% since the global financial crisis, the BIS said.