Globa cities are recovering from a slump, a new report has found. Prime prices in Asia rose by 3.4% in the year to June in the Knight Frank Prime Global Cities Index – the equivalent figure in March was -2.5%. Similarly, prime prices in Europe rose by 1.3% in the year to June, an improvement on the -3.4% recorded in the year to March.
Asia’s resurgence in the second quarter can largely be attributed to the strong performance of its emerging markets, namely Jakarta and Bangkok, rather than its traditional powerhouses of Singapore and Hong Kong, adds the report.
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The growth in Europe’s prime prices has taken place despite – or possibly because of – the deepening Eurozone crisis. With the prospect of more bailouts looking increasingly likely, prime buyers and investors seem to have separated European cities into different tiers.
Buyers and investors are no longer just concentrating on those cities that attract a high level of international demand, but increasingly seeking prime property in those cities best sheltered from the EU debt debacle. London, Geneva, and Zurich are all positioned in the top half of the latest results table having recorded annual price growth of 10.5%, 6.0%, and 5.9% respectively.
According to James Price, of Knight Frank’s International Residential Development team: ‘The appeal of cities in stable economies is being brought into marked contrast with the investment environment in weaker countries. This city-level data should not however be taken as a reflection of the whole country; prime second-home destinations outside the cities may still perform well in a poorer performing wider market.’
The top ten cities for price growth in the past twelve months are:
Bankok
Jakarta
Nairobi
Miami
London
New York
Geneva
Zurich
San Francisco
Cape Town
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