By Jennifer Hill, Personal Finance Correspondent

LONDON (Reuters) - The global property market is looking increasingly shaky -- a concern for everyone, not least property investors.

But there are ways in which they can profit from a housing market downturn, thanks to evolving markets in spread-betting, listed property funds and derivatives.

Property is no longer just a "buy-and-hold" asset, where the only option for worried investors is to sell up, and many are turning to instruments that allow them to bet against property as the outlook for house price growth turns sour.

House prices in England and Wales fell 0.2 percent in February -- the fifth consecutive monthly decline. That pushed the annual rate of inflation to its lowest since April 2006, housing market research company Hometrack says.

The outlook is equally as bearish, with many economists expecting house prices to be at best flat during 2008.

Against that backdrop, demand from private investors to "short" residential property -- to bet on a downturn -- has grown rapidly in recent months.

So, what is it all about? Buy low and sell high: it is an age-old market adage. Buying something at a low price which you can then sell to someone else at a high price is clearly a great way of making money.

Short selling is the converse of this. Short sellers borrow shares then sell them in the hope they will fall, and can then buy them back at a cheaper price when they have to return them.