Andreas Christophorides and Associates LLC

Residential Property Price Index Q1 2015

Small quarterly decrease of residential property prices in the first quarter of 2015 1

Residential property price indices

In 2015Q1, the RPPI recorded a quarterly decrease of 1%, the smallest decrease since 2012Q4, when the acceleration of the declining prices started. House and apartment prices decreased by 0,8% and 1,5%, respectively, compared with 2,1% and 1,5%, respectively, in the previous quarter (Chart 1). As depicted in Chart 1, the RPPI returned to the average price levels of 2006, the year in which the over-lending for housing (as measured by the outstanding amount of housing loans) started, leading eventually to the overheating of the sector.
On an annual basis, the RPPI declined by 6,5%, compared with a decline of 8% in 2014Q4. House prices declined by 6% on an annual basis and apartment prices by 7,7%, compared with annual declines of 7,8% and 8,7%, respectively, in 2014Q4.

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