NZ house prices among world's fastest growing

The Economist magazine's cover story this week put New Zealand at fifth place out of 20 countries on its house-price indices.

In the first quarter of this year, prices here were up 12.5 per cent compared with the same time last year, behind South Africa, up 23.6 per cent, Hong Kong 19 per cent, Spain 15.5 per cent and France 15 per cent.

The United States ranked equal to New Zealand with a 12.5 per cent rise, followed by Denmark up 11.3 per cent, Sweden 10 per cent, China 9.8 per cent, Italy 9.7 per cent, Belgium 9.4 per cent, Ireland 6.5 per cent, Britain 5.5 per cent, Canada 5.2 per cent, Singapore 2 per cent, Netherlands 1.9 per cent, Switzerland 1 per cent, Australia 0.4 per cent, Germany -1.3 per cent and Japan -5.4 per cent.

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