08:39 AM EDT, 09/25/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Most developed-world housing markets are trying to find some semblance of normalcy after prices jumped ahead of incomes, said Bank of Montreal (BMO).

Globally, home prices are up 30% from Q4 2019, according to the Dallas Fed's measure, although they have stagnated since central banks began their tightening cycles, noted BMO.

The drivers were common across many major markets: Deeply negative real interest rates, fiscal transfers to households, changes in housing preferences and more work flexibility, stated the bank.

The flip side is that per-capita disposable income is up a more modest 20%, so markets now have to digest the move, pointed out BMO. In some areas, this is coming as prices slow below the rate of income growth -- for example the United States. In others, prices have fallen outright, such as Canada and Australia.

Price gains in Canada were certainly strong relative to income, but the gap was even wider in Australia and the US, where the latter market was 'cheap' by most definitions before the pandemic, so there was room to move, added the bank.