Sydney and Melbourne boost international status: Knight Frank Prime Global Cities Index
Australia has boosted its prime residential price index, with Sydney and Melbourne boosting their international status as number 10 and 11 respectively on the latest Knight Frank Prime Global Cities Index.
The index enables investors and developers to monitor and compare the performance of prime residential prices across key global cities, with prime property corresponding to the top five per cent of the wider housing market in each city.
The Knight Frank Prime Global Cities Index increased by 3.9% globally in the year to March 2015. North American cities occupy three of the top four rankings for annual price growth, while luxury properties are, on average, 46% more expensive than in Q2 2009 when the index hit its financial crisis low.
Out of the 56 markets monitored by Knight Frank, only 14 locations registered price declines.
The worst performing was war-torn Ukraine, showing a 15.5 percent drop in rates, followed by Cyprus, where values fell by 8.2 percent and China, falling by 6.4 percent.
The index, which is compiled on a quarterly basis using official government statistics or central bank data, indicated that Hong Kong is currently the top performing market today in terms of growth in property values, registering an increase of 18.7 percent.
The second top performing market is Turkey, where values accelerated by 18.6 percent, followed by Ireland in the third place (16.8 percent), Luxembourg (12.1 percent) and Estonia (11 percent).
According to Knight Frank’s Associate Director for Residential Research in Australia, Michelle Ciesielski, Sydney and Melbourne have increased on the index by 7.4% and 7.2% respectively over the past 12 months.
“Despite the mainstream market in Sydney over the same time achieving growth of 16.5% for houses, and 12.9% for apartments, those purchasing prime properties in Sydney have preferred to wait for the right opportunity, at the right value.
“The two years following the introduction of the Significant Investor Visa in 2012, we saw more Chinese-based purchasers in the prime residential market.
“However, over the past 18 months we’ve witnessed more local purchasers, with many expats returning to Sydney and Melbourne.
“We expect growth to continue in the top five per cent of the residential market with the current low-interest rate environment, steady business confidence and a weaker Australian dollar than we saw when the Significant Investor Visa was first introduced.
“Attracting more net worth individuals to Australia, from July 1, the Government will be offering a more expeditious, 12-month pathway to permanent residency for those meeting an AUD$15 million threshold under the Premium Investor Visa,” said Ms Ciesielski.
According to the report, globally the index showed a mixed picture. Previous strong performers such as London slipped back, whilst cities such as San Francisco, Vancouver and Sydney climbed the rankings.
The report found the ongoing tussle between globalisation (wealth creation, improved connectivity) on the one hand and protectionism (including foreign buyer restrictions, capital controls) on the other is set to dominate purchase decisions for luxury buyers and hence market performance going forward, as explored in this year’s Wealth Report.