IMF launches index for global housing market

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Wednesday unveiled Global Housing Watch, a website dedicated to featuring its analysis on housing markets across the world.

The site will provide a one-stop shop for the Fund's Global House Price Index and other data on housing indicators, said the IMF.

The launch is part of an initiative to highlight the IMF's research on the housing sector and makes it accessible to all. It also aims to promote cross-country collaboration in this field.

"Understanding the drivers of house price cycles, and how to moderate these cycles, is important for economic stability. It is only by maintaining an open dialogue on these issues that we will gain a solid understanding of how policies can contain housing booms," said IMF Deputy Managing Director Min Zhu in a statement.

The Global Housing Watch will make cross-country comparisons among average housing prices in different countries, as well as providing a benchmark comparison of house prices to incomes and rents, the IMF said.

The website will published a quarterly report on global housing market in July. It will be updated regularly.

"This is the launch of an initiative, not the end point," said Prakash Loungani, Advisor in the IMF Research Department in a statement.