Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC has released a snapshot look on several international housing markets. The information was provided by local Coldwell Banker affiliates in featured markets based on their views of recent housing trends for five diverse European cities.

Barcelona – On the road to economic recovery. After six consecutive years of price reductions, Barcelona is now experiencing price stability, especially in the luxury segment. The 7,893 first-quarter unit sales reflects an increase of 14 per cent over the previous quarter, also marking the first quarter in eight years that both sales and price increased at the same time.

Berlin’s average time on market to sell is eight to nine months. The country is experiencing record lows in inventory, below two per cent on average and 1.5 per cent in most central areas of the city, due to the strong economy, low interest rates and an increase in population. With the population forecasted to increase by 7.2 per cent by 2030, the market is facing a significant shortage of supply with only 6,500 new residential units being built per year compared to the projected need of 11,000 annually. Berlin is largely a rental market, yet the homeownership rate has increased to approximately 15 per cent largely due to an influx of first-time buyers.

Bucharest – The largest city in Romania is seeing a surge in new home construction with nearly 1,500 completed in the first quarter of 2014, compared to 900 in the first quarter of 2013. This level of individual and state building in the first quarter of 2014 is similar to those figures experienced during the economic boom period. Overall, real estate transactions are up eight percent through the first quarter of 2014 compared to the previous year.

Malta’s real estate market has remained relatively stable.

Malta, one of the world’s smallest and most densely populated countries, has been relatively stable although there has been a cultural shift towards renting via long-term leases as apartments are being built to replace older homes. Like many markets, 2014 has brought renewed strength to the housing market beginning to erase a 40 per cent combined price drop from 2008-2013 when banks stopped all developmental loans. Prior to 2008, Malta experienced annual price increases of 10-15 per cent.

Rome is seeing positive signs after seven years of real estate sales contraction. In the first quarter of 2014, 6,579 properties were sold in Rome, which was a 0.6 per cent increase year-over-year, while pricing decreased over previous quarters.

Looking deeper: foreign buyers

Barcelona. The majority of foreign buyers coming into Barcelona are from the UK (14 per cent overall), followed by France (11 per cent), Russia (nine per cent), Germany (eight per cent), Belgium (seven per cent), Switzerland (six per cent) and the US (three per cent).

Bucharest. American buyers make up less than one percent. The majority of foreign buyers come from Spain, Hungary, Austria, Germany, UK, Israel, Turkey and China.

Berlin. Berlin, especially West Berlin, has traditionally been very popular among Russian buyers and this trend continues in today’s market. Italians are the second largest group of foreign buyers with a noticeable increase from southern Europeans led by Italy, Greece and France.

Malta. Foreign buyers are mostly European (10 per cent overall) with a small percentage of Americans on the island (0.3 per cent). Other noticeable foreign buyers are coming from Asia (three per cent), Russia (two per cent) and Africa (0.7 per cent).

Rome. The majority of foreign buyers are from Russia (12 per cent overall), followed by the UK (10 per cent), Germany (nine per cent), France (eight per cent), US (seven per cent) and China (five per cent).

Coldwell Banker, a provider of residential and commercial real estate, is the oldest national real estate brand in the US and has a network of approximately 84,200 independent sales associates affiliated with more than 3,100 offices in 48 countries and territories.

The brand is known for creating innovative consumer services as recently seen by being the first national real estate brand with an iPad app, the first to augment its website www.coldwellbanker.com for smartphones, the first to create a iPhone application with international listings and to fully harness the power of video in real estate listings, news and information through its Coldwell Banker On Location You Tube channel.