Luxury house prices around the world are going up, according to new data.
In the first three months of 2018, the average cost of prime housing monitored in 45 major cities increased year-on-year by 4.8%, says international property consultancy Knight Frank.
The biggest rise was a 24.7% rise in Seoul, the capital of South Korea.
Six other cities had double digit property price rises – but values dipped in 11 other cities, with the largest fall in Stockholm, Sweden (-8.4%).
Home values in Rome, Italy, stood still, while they increased in 31 other cities.
Cape Town breaks the mould
Prices across the top 20 were evenly spread, with half coming from Asia and Australia and nine from Europe and North America. Cape Town, in second place, was the only African city represented.
“The world’s top tier cities – London, New York and Hong Kong – all saw annual price growth dip marginally compared with last quarter,” said researcher Kate Everett-Allen, who compiles the firm’s Prime Global Cities Index.
“In London, while the market remains sensitive to political events there is a sense of relative stability being restored.
“In New York the weaker dollar is attracting foreign interest and with Wall Street bonuses back to pre-crisis levels we expect luxury demand to strengthen. In Hong Kong prime prices accelerated 6.9% although mainstream prices continue to outperform.”
London ranked 35 with a -1.1% price fall, New York came in at 27 with a 1% rise, while Hong Kong took place 13 with a 6.9% increase.
Luxury house prices – Global Top 20
| Rank | City | Country | Change (months) | Market direction | |||
| 12 | 6 | 3 | |||||
| 1 | Seoul | South Korea | 24.7% | 19.9% | 11.6% | Up | |
| 2 | Cape Town | South Africa | 19.3% | 8.6% | 1.4% | Down | |
| 3 | Guangzhou | China | 16.1% | 2.4% | 2.2% | Down | |
| 4 | Berlin | Germany | 10.9% | 5.8% | 1.2% | Up | |
| 5 | Shanghai | China | 10.9% | 5.1% | 3.9% | Up | |
| 6 | Paris | France | 10.5% | 1.1% | 0.0% | Down | |
| 7 | Madrid | Spain | 10.1% | 4.0% | 3.0% | Down | |
| 8 | San Francisco | USA | 9.0% | 5.2% | 1.0% | Up | |
| 9 | Sydney | Australia | 8.7% | 3.0% | 0.9% | Down | |
| 10 | Melbourne | Australia | 8.3% | 2.0% | 0.1% | Down | |
| 11 | Los Angeles | USA | 8.1% | 2.7% | 1.9% | Up | |
| 12 | Edinburgh | UK | 7.7% | 4.7% | 3.3% | Up | |
| 13 | Hong Kong | China | 6.9% | 2.7% | 1.0% | Down | |
| 14 | Beijing | China | 6.4% | 3.7% | 1.7% | Down | |
| 15 | Zurich | Switzerland | 6.0% | 3.1% | 0.4% | Up | |
| 16 | Singapore | Singapore | 5.8% | 5.9% | 2.1% | Up | |
| 17 | Frankfurt | Germany | 4.2% | 1.5% | -0.4% | Down | |
| 18 | Toronto | Canada | 4.2% | 6.0% | 4.2% | Down | |
| 19 | Brisbane | Australia | 3.0% | 3.0% | 0.1% | Up | |
| 20 | Tokyo | Japan | 1.9% | 1.9% | -0.7% | Up | |
Source: Knight Frank
Luxury house prices – Global bottom 5
Source: Knight Frank
