Global economic growth is being affected by soaring inflation. In response the central banks across the globe are raising interest rates on most loan types including mortgages to discourage consumer spending, which is stirring up the housing sector. In this context, the UK, followed by Australia, has emerged as the top mentioned country among the top 10 countries on social media discussions (Twitter and Reddit) around ‘house prices’ in 2022 (as of 28 September), reveals the Social Media Analytics Platform of GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

The remaining top eight mentioned countries were the US, Canada, Greece, New Zealand, Cyprus, Germany, Ireland and France.

Smitarani Tripathy, Social Media Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “Most of the influencers expect the house prices to cool down in the near term, led by the rising interest rates by banks to keep mortgage borrowings more expensive and curb inflation.”

Social media discussions related to house prices around the UK have surged the most in March, when the house prices grew at the fastest annual pace in more than 17 years, driven by limited stock and higher demand despite the persisting high inflation. The recent spike in September was centered on the major central bank’s decision to raise the interest rates further, which could cause the property market to slow down.

Australia ranked second among the top 10 most mentioned countries with a 16% share of voice in 2022. House prices in the country took the biggest dive in the last four decades, which drove the social media discussions to spike up in August. Social media contributors have discussed how the cost-of-living pressure slashed the housing market demand.

The US, with a 14% share of voice among social media discussions, has emerged as the third most mentioned country in 2022. A dramatic rise in social media conversations was witnessed in September, when the mortgage rate reached 6.29%, the highest in the last 14 years, following the key interest rate hike by the Federal Reserve to tame inflation. Twitter influencers have discussed how the US housing market is deteriorating with soaring mortgage rates.