Believe it or not, house prices in some parts of the world are still going up - or they were at the latest count, anyway.
The Knight Frank Global House Prices Index - the most authoritative international monitor of property markets - reports that in the third quarter of 2008, two thirds of the countries surveyed were still enjoying a year-on-year increase, with Slovakia top of the league table at 31.2% increase over 12 months, and Russia (26.9%) and Bulgaria (26.8%) not too far behind.
Dubai's rise was even bigger, but Knight Frank admits that the figures are out of date and not terribly reliable. Bottom of the table were Latvia (-24.1%), US (-16.3%) and Estonia (-16%), propping up the UK just above. However, viewed quarter-on-quarter, it's pretty evident from the Knight Frank figures that by the third quarter, growth was slowing to a halt nearly everywhere. Only a handful of countries, including Slovakia, Russia and the Czech Republic were still showing gains.
Nicholas Barnes, head of international research at Knight Frank, said: "It is now clear that no part of the world is likely to escape the credit crunch as property prices start to fall in more and more parts of the globe." Putting a positive spin on this, Barnes adds: "The scale and speed of some of the falls is positive in a way because it means investors who are in a position to buy, are now sensing that some markets are offering relative value compared to pre-credit crunch conditions.
"Against a backcloth of frustration with recent stock market performance and nagging doubts about segments of the banking sector, property appears to offer a relatively secure and tangible home for their money." So in other words, after getting carried away in a bubble, Latvia may be worth a second look now some of the hot air has fizzled away.
Alexander Garrett is a freelance property writer who contributes regularly to The Observer and British Airways' Business Life.