Housing Prices Are Rising And You'll Be Surprised What Country Analysts Worry About Most

Global house prices rose in the second quarter of 2013, marking the sixth consecutive quarter of growth since the beginning of 2012, according to the International Monetary Fund.

House prices increased in 32 of 51 advanced and emerging-market economies in the IMF’s Global House Price Index. In the second quarter of 2009, at the height of the housing crisis, house prices increased in nine countries.

Among Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) member countries, house price increases and decreases are more balanced, but the ratio of house prices to rents, which is a typical measure of house price valuation, is above historical averages. For example, in Canada, the ratio is 85 percent above the average.