Luxury home prices jumped 11.5% in H1

Singapore bucked declining trends and led luxury price gains globally.

Singapore led the growth of luxury home prices around the world with an 11.5% increase for the first half of 2018, Knight Frank revealed.

According to a report, Singapore and Tokyo have bucked the general, trending decline of price growth around the world. “In Singapore, recovery is a consequence of rising foreign demand and high land bids by developers, which has fed through to new-build prices,” said Kate Everett-Allen, Knight Frank head of international residential research.

She did note that Singapore has introduced new macro-prudential measures into the residential market. “Investors may rue the rise in property market regulations which, in many cases, will add to their bottom line in the form of purchase or disposal taxes,” she added.

Also read: Cooling measures to curb demand for landed homes

Meanwhile, prime prices in Tokyo grew by 9.4%. Knight Frank said the growth is linked to economic sentiment, the city’s relative value compared with Hong Kong and Singapore, and investment ahead of the 2020 Olympic Games.

Luxury home prices in Beijing (+7.3%) and Shanghai (+3.3%) currently sit mid-table. “China’s decision to pare back its housing subsidy programme will have an impact on mass market sales in smaller cities, but we expect luxury price growth in first-tier cities to persist,” Everett-Allen commented.

Meanwhile, across 20 cities Knight Frank tracks all around the world, the average growth of prime prices dipped to 4.2% from the previous record of 6%. “With the cost of finance set to rise in a number of markets, more stringent cooling measures being imposed, and slower growth in China’s first-tier cities, lower price growth will characterise the overall results of the Index for some time to come,” Everett-Allen said.