Over priced homes a world wide problem

Overvalued homes a worldwide problem.

WHERE are house prices most overvalued? As the rest of the world watches the bursting of America's housing bubble, that question should be at the top of everyone's mind. The answer is not comforting: many countries have had far hotter housing markets than America and are also suffering from tightening lending conditions thanks to the credit crisis.

In the latest World Economic Outlook, Roberto Cardarelli of the IMF calculates the share of the increase in real house prices between 1997 and 2007 that cannot be accounted for by fundamental factors such as lower interest rates and rising incomes. This “house-price gap” is greatest for Ireland, the Netherlands and Britain, where prices are about 30% higher than can be justified by fundamentals. France, Australia and Spain have house-price gaps of around 20%. In America, where prices were already falling in 2007, the gap is just over 10%.