The continuing global downturn has taken its toll on the property hot spots of the world with Dubai, Latvia and Singapore topping the list of the property bubble bursts, as per the survey data released by estate agent Knight Frank.

The UK-based global property consultancy reported that 72 per cent of the 46 markets surveyed, reported a slump in property values over the last year.

Nick Barnes, head of international research at Knight Frank, said, "The world's housing markets remain under intense pressure with little real evidence of any of the hoped for 'green shoots' and even the improvement in performance shown in some countries in the last quarter may yet turn out to be a false dawn."

"The inescapable trend is that the worst and most widespread economic recession since the 1930s continues to batter housing markets across the globe,'' Barnes added.

Dubai, the second largest of the seven emirates of the UAE (United Arab Emirates) and not so long ago, home of the construction boom recorded an astounding 40 per cent slump in the first quarter of 2009, compared to the previous quarter.

The year-on-year data also show a huge drop of 32 per cent, second only to the East European country, Latvia which registered a fall of 36 per cent. (Q-o-Q data for Latvia is not yet available).

Singapore recorded a 24 per cent slump on year-on-year and 16 per cent compared to the previous quarter.

The declines in the US and the UK were more or less similar where property prices plunged around 17 per cent YoY and close to 5 per cent in the first quarter of 2009, compared to the last quarter of 2008.

Countries where the property explosion was subdued in the recent years, demonstrated a reversal of the trend.

In Israel property prices rose by around 11 per cent Y-o-Y, followed by the Czech Republic, 10 per cent and the channel island of Jersey, 7 per cent. The Q-o-Q data for these countries show an appreciation of 2.6 per cent and 5.6 per cent in respect of Israel and Jersey, whereas the Czech Republic registered a decline of 2.9 per cent. 

Switzerland, which has a more disciplined property market, recorded an annual increase of 5.6 per cent and a Q-o-Q increase of 2.1 per cent.

India, is fifth on the list with an annual price increase of 5.1 per cent and a Q-o-Q growth of 0.9 per cent.

Few countries showed a more stable scenario of within one per cent change in property values, on annual basis. These include: Lithuania, Slovakia, Italy, South Africa, Sweden and Finland.

Regarding Dubai, Barnes said ''is in a mess, a lot will depend on developers and how long they can hold on before getting into fire-sale territory.''

A year ago, Dubai registered a whopping 48 per cent growth in property prices with zooming construction activities including the mega artificial island projects of Palm Jumeirah and World and the world's tallest structure Burj Dubai.

However, just in a year everything turned around as a result of the global financial crisis and in the present circumstances with vanishing demand for property, it is feared that many of the large property developers of the region are closing in towards bankruptcy.

Latvian economy which grew at a staggering 12 per cent after the country's joining the European Union in 2004, triggered the property bubble which grew more than three times between 2004 and 2006 warranting drastic government action by way of hiking interest rates and property taxes and framing more stringent regulations.
 
Barnes said, "Rising unemployment and concern among those still in jobs, added to constrained credit conditions, means that buyer demand for housing remains suppressed and confidence is low in most markets which is inevitably having a negative impact on house prices."

He observed that although there is "sporadic evidence" of buyers hunting for relative bargains, other potential buyers are on the sidelines waiting for the market to bottom out.