Bulgaria tops house price league

Bulgaria joined the European Union at the beginning of 2007

As the US housing market hit the buffers and most of Europe slowed, Bulgaria topped the table for house price growth in 2007.

Figures to the end of September showed Bulgarian house prices rose by 30.6%.

Bulgaria pipped the Chinese city of Shanghai, which saw 27.9% growth in the first 10 months of 2007.

The UK's 9.7% growth put it at 14th in the Global Property Guide list, compiled using the latest available figures from 42 countries.

HOUSE PRICE GROWTH 1. Bulgaria - 30.6% 2. China (Shanghai) - 27.9% 3. Singapore - 27.6% 4. Estonia (Tallinn) - 23.4% 5. Lithuania - 13.6% Source: Global Property Guide

Depending on which measure is taken, US house prices fell 5.1% or 3.5% or rose 1.8%.

The first of those measures puts the US at the bottom of the list while the second means it is slightly better than Ireland, where prices fell by 4.7%.

The figures are taken in local currency terms without adjusting for inflation.

When inflation is taken into account, Singapore comes out on top.