Global housing prices continued to slide in the first quarter, albeit at a slower rate, according to new data from the Bank for International Settlements (BIS).
On a year-over-year basis, global real prices were down 1% in the first three months of the year, extending a decline that began in 2022.
The weakness in global prices was led by emerging markets, which saw prices drop 2.6% in the quarter, while the advanced economies posted a 1.2% increase in real house prices, the BIS said.
Among the advanced economies, Europe was strongest, with prices rising 3% in the region — and Canada was the weakest, as real prices declined by 3%. In the U.S., prices were flat in the first quarter.
The ongoing decline in global prices continues to be driven by emerging markets, particularly emerging Asia, which saw prices fall 4.4% in the first quarter, the BIS noted.
While real prices continued to slide in 2025, the rate of decline slowed from the fourth quarter of 2024, when global prices were down by 1.6% — again, led by a 3.5% drop in emerging markets.
Despite the recent weakness in housing prices, the BIS noted that global prices are still up 21% since the financial crisis in 2007–2009, with prices up 34% in the advanced economies over the period, and up 11% in emerging markets.
Prices are also generally up since the onset of the pandemic, it said, with global prices up 4% compared with the fourth quarter of 2019, before the pandemic hit.