Photo credit: Mal Parkington 

Asian countries are starting to feel the pinch of the global economic downturn, according to Global Property Guide.

The site's latest survey, which analyses House Prices around the world in the second quarter of 2012, found that in Singapore, house prices dropped 3.28% year-on-year after a 5.27% increase during the same period in 2011. The turnaround was due to government housing market curbs, exacerbated by the worldwide economic downturn.

In Thailand, the housing price index for single-detached house including land fell 3.59% during the year to Q2 2012. In Shanghai, China, the second-hand housing price index declined by 3.44% year-on-year in Q2 2012, according to Ehomeday. In Tokyo, Japan, House Prices Fell 2.18% year-on-year in Q2 2012, in contrast to the 0.18% rise year-on-year in Q2 2011. Likewise, house prices in Taiwan dropped 0.74% year-on-year in Q2 2012, in contrast with the 11.87% rise the previous year. In Indonesia, the residential property price index dropped 0.78% year-on-year in Q2.

In Hong Kong, House Prices Rose by 3.01% year-on-year in Q2 2012, but this was a sharp slowdown from the 20.64% annual increase during the same period last year.

Housing prices in India rose 6.23% year-on-year in Q2 2012. This was also a sharp slowdown from the 22.7% annual rise during the same period last year. Housing prices fell 1.09% during the latest quarter. The slowdown in the Indian housing market is partly due to its slowing economy.

Pacific housing markets, on the other hand, are edging up a little. New Zealand's median house prices rose 2.41% year-on-year in Q2 2012, after a drop of 3.98% during the same period last year. New Zealand's official cash rate has been kept at 2.5% since March 2011 by the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ).

Australia's housing market is also improving. House prices in the country's eight major cities were down by 3.2% year-on-year in Q2 2012, an improvement from a decline of 6.05% year-on-year in Q2 2011. House prices fell by just 0.01% quarter-on-quarter in Q2 2012. The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) cut the benchmark rate to 3.5% in July 2012, the fourth cut since November 2011.