But the big story is that the Asia property boom, which so many property pundits had predicted would run out of steam, by and large continued in the second quarter, while many property markets in Europe continued to stagnate.
The greatest property price growth was recorded in Singapore, China and Hong Kong, although there are signs that these markets are starting to cool.
Europe continued to record the weakest performance of all world regions, suggesting that there are still currently lots of good opportunities to buy cheap properties in Spain, Portugal, France, among other popular European destinations.
Liam Bailey, head of residential research, Knight Frank, said: “Each quarter we are presented with further evidence that the impact of the global recession on the world's housing markets is diminishing. In Q2 2010 annual price inflation increased in 69% of the locations monitored in Knight Frank's Global House Price Index compared to 53 per cent last quarter and 19 per cent a year earlier.
“A slight convergence is occurring with the disparity between the top and bottom of the table being less pronounced than a year earlier. On the one hand, government intervention, particularly in the heated Asian economies, is starting to have the desired cooling effect as indicated by the latest quarterly results. On the other hand, economic stimulus measures put in place by many western governments such as ultra-low interest rates, first time buyer concessions and targeted support for banks have encouraged house buyers and this increase in demand has helped push prices higher, albeit moderately so.”