The Knight Frank Global House Price Index, which tracks the performance of the world's mainstream housing markets, showed zero growth in the three months to September amid mounting pressures on global economy .

This was the index's weakest performance since the second quarter of 2009 and raises fears that it could enter negative territory by the end of the year. The index rose by just 1.5 per cent in the 12 months to September.

During the third quarter of 2011, house prices fell in 54 per cent of the countries monitored by the index and average price growth was zero.

Hong Kong has been the strongest performer. House prices have risen 19 per cent in the past 12 months. Prices in Ireland have fallen the most - down 14 per cent in the past 12 months.

Europe is the weakest performing world region. Prices fell on average by 0.5 per cent in the past 12 months.

The third quarter saw mounting pressures on the global economy with politicians seemingly helpless to get to grips with the euro zone debt crisis.

This has reawakened fears of a double-dip recession, not just in Europe but around the world.

Unsurprisingly, this economic uncertainty has been reflected in the performance of the world's housing markets.-TradeArabia News Service