If property markets competed globally and it were an Olympic sport – who would be the winners, losers and ones to watch?

It’s not quite a spectator sport, but  the Knight Frank Global House Price Index makes for an entertaining read nevertheless. The latest figures have been published and the results are in for the first quarter of this year.

Ireland would retire due to injury. At an annual drop of 11.9% and ranking 48^th its sorry economic state is cemented with devalued properties lying empty all around the country.

Bringing up the rear, in a surprisingly solid performance would be Dubai which, in the past six months has finally showed a positive rise in prices by 2.1%.

But can the UK, which is placed at a middling 29^th with an increase of 1% after a year of decline, regain its position at the front of the pack?

For the moment, Asia will take gold, silver and bronze; Hong Kong, India and Taiwan dominate the top of the rankings this quarter although Hong Kong’s out-of-control inflation (which the government is trying to cool), has risen recently to 24.2%, which could have serious consequences in a year’s time, and cause them to drop to a level pegging with Europe.

On Asia’s heels, the wild cards for overtaking Asia  (and a safe bet for buying property in), are Israel and France. According to Knight Frank, Israel has been steadily in the top ten for the past two years and has a far more stable and controlled inflation rate than Asia. France has leaped from 30^th to 6^th place with an 8.6% rise since 2010. Knight Frank believes that the country’s greater productivity has impacted on wages, consumer spending and property demand.

So can the underdogs overtake Asia in a year’s time? Only time will tell; on your marks, set, go.

This Friday the Channel 4 TV show A Place in the Sun begins its three day tenancy at Earls Court in London and Primelocation International will be there, along with 160 companies offering overseas properties for sale and homebuying services.

Headlining the event will the show’s three most famous presenters – Amanda Lamb (who presents the show’s video, below), Jonnie Irwin and Jasmine Harman – who will be appearing on stage to give advice about buying foreign property and answer questions about their work as TV presenters and signing copies of A Place in the Sun magazine. But they will also be joined by other experts including LBC radio presenter, property investment guru and Apprentice TV show contestant James Maxx.

VIDEO: Watch Amanda Lamb introduce this year’s A Place in Sun Live show

Primelocation International’s property analyst Nigel Lewis will also speaking every day at the show on the main stage, revealing ‘ten things you didn’t know about overseas property’ including which country has the easiest buying/conveyancing process; which town the Spanish holiday home revolution started in, which country offers the best quality of life and which day was the best financially to buy a property in Europe over the past year. Catch him during the show at 11.45am on Friday, 12.30pm on Saturday and 2pm on Sunday.

And if you want a free ticket to attend the show – follow this link to claim yours.

Primelocation is sponsoring this year’s  International Property Awards in association with Bloomberg Television, the housing world’s answer to the Oscars with a red carpet event to be held on November 25th and 26th this year in central London. 

So could your next home end up with an international gong for its architecture, build quality or a range of other categories?

These awards may not offer the same glamour and stars as the yearly Oscars in Hollywood, but in many ways they are not far off with categories that include best golf development, international property, apartment and interior design.

The event began it began in 1994 and has developed into a global concern with regional heats held across the world during the build up to the final in London. This comes to a glamorous climax at an event attended by the leading lights of the property world and celebrities.

These in past years have included Rick Wakeman of 1970s supergroup Yes, BBC Royal Correspondent Jenny Bond, interiors expert Linda Barker and Location, Location, Location star Phil Spencer. And the awards have high profile sponsors too. As well as Primelocation.com these include newspaper The New York Times, Google, Bloomberg Television and Maserati.

But one thing that doesn’t change is the robust judging process. Every year the world’s industry experts gather to judge - including this time round Primelocation.com’s Nigel Lewis - whether the hundreds of entries from across the globe pass the quality test.

A wide range of residential and commercial properties are judged from grand villas in Dubai to office developments in Budapest, and previous winners have included UK agent Knight Frank, developer Berkeley Homes (for its Sugar House development in London) and the Dunas Douradas Beach Club on Portugal’s Algarve coast. But winners come from a wide range of countries including Panama, Brazil, India, Singapore, South Africa and Cape Verde.