Knight Frank has released its latest Global Residential Cities Index: Sydney is up from 30th place to 23rd, Melbourne is up from 28th to 24th, and Hobart has rocketed from 77th position to 34th.
Knight Frank has released its global ranking of residential property prices, revealing Sydney at 23rd position, Melbourne at 24th, and Hobart rocketing from 77th to 34th.
The Global Residential Cities Index, which tracks the performance of residential property prices in 150 cities world-wide, recorded a rise of 6.9% on average for the year to March 2017, the highest result recorded since in the December quarter of 2013.
The highest ranking city in Australia was Sydney, at 23rd, and with 14.4 per cent annual growth. This time last year, Sydney was 30th on the index, with 9.7% annual growth in the year to March 2016.
Melbourne was hot on its tail in 24th position, with 13.4 per cent annual growth. Melbourne was at 28th place at this time in 2016, with 9.8% annual growth.
Hobart came in 34th position, with 11.3 per cent price growth – rocketing up from 77th place with 4.2% growth for the same period last year.
Canberra came in 47th position.
Source: Knight Frank.
Knight Frank’s Head of Residential Research, Australia, Michelle Ciesielski, said, “The first quarter of 2017 saw an uptick in Australian property prices, with active buyers in Sydney and Melbourne after a slower end to 2016. Hobart prices strengthened for the second quarter, stimulated by those priced out of these heated East Coast cities."
Four Australian cities reappeared in the top 50 of the global index in the first quarter of the year. There were no Australian cities in the top 50 six months ago, when price growth moderated.
The index shows that Australia's property market is operating at two speeds, said Ciesielski.
“The index clearly represents the different pace of property growth around Australia with three (cities) in the bottom 50," she said.
Chinese cities recorded the highest growth, but major cities such as Beijing and Shanghai saw their growth weaken, shifting them down the rankings.
Of the 150 cities tracked, 123 - or 82 per cent - recorded growth in property prices, and 40 of these recorded double-digit rises.
Dutch cities are emerging as a key growth centre; all of the four cities tracked in the index saw annual growth exceed 10 per cent.
Strong price growth in Australia is not expected to continue, said Ciesielski.
“Given the annual volume of house sales across Australian capital cities was collectively down 1.3% and apartment sales were only up 2.6% over the year ending May 2017, it’s likely the positive capital growth experienced over recent years will not be as strong for the second half of 2017 and into 2018," she said.
Read Knight Frank's Global Residential Cities Index report here.
Read more about global house prices:
Knight Frank Wealth Report shows Australia still mixing it with the best