Real estate markets worldwide are stabilizing and showing signs of tentative recovery. During the first quarter of this year, when many countries continued to suffer double-digit declines in average home prices, the second quarter saw upticks in half of the countries tracked by this report, compared with the previous three months.

The strongest region was the Nordic countries, where prices rose 5.3% in Norway, 3.9% in Finland, and 3.6% in Sweden. The U.S. also saw a rebound, with a 1.7% quarterly increase in average prices. The worst-hit places are Dubai and Bulgaria, where residential property prices fell 7.5% and 9.7%, respectively.

The research hasn’t shown surprising results in the scheme of the global financial crisis. Some of the key highlights has seen Israel as the top performer with a 10.9% growth rate, followed by the Czech Republic with 9.9%.

On the contrary, the worst activities were seen in Dubai, Latvia and Singapore. Dubai recorded average price falls of 32%, Singapore 23% and Latvia 36% loss. On a quarterly basis, Dubai was the biggest loser with -40%.

In terms of best performing markets we have to underline  Thailand with a 2.7% lift in values, Israel with +2.6% and Switzerland with +2.1% were showing promising results.