World's costliest cities to buy home in... How Dubai property compares

Dubai house prices increased at the fastest pace in world during the year to Q1 2013, in the list of 42 global cities surveyed by the Global Property Guide.

The organisation, which collates real estate data from across the world, said in its report that prices soared by 28.02 per cent, which was in sharp contrast with the 1.01 per cent year-on-year decline seen in the same period last year.

House prices declined by 53 per cent from Q3 2008 to Q3 2011, due to the global financial and economic meltdown. Dubai, however, started witnessing recovery from the second quarter of 2012, supported by the UAE’s robust economic growth.

“The strength of Dubai 's housing market has been bolstered by several other factors, including the availability of finance, the city's status as a safe haven, an exchange rate pegged to the US dollar, and improved consumer and investor confidence,” the report said.

Moreover, the UAE 's economy is expected to expand by 3.6 per cent in 2013, from a real GDP growth rate of 4.8 per cent in 2012, according to the Institute of International Finance.

Knight Frank, a global property consultancy, said property prices in Dubai rose 18.3 per cent in the past one year (March 2012 to March 2013), with the emirate maintaining its position among the top five best performing real estate markets in the world.

World’s most expensive residential properties

The consultancy has also revealed that Dubai’s prime luxury properties were over 10 times lower than Monaco, the world’s most expensive residential property market.

Second on the list was Hong Kong, which saw house price rise by 20.14 per cent year-on-year in Q1 2013, far higher than the 2.11 per cent annual increase seen during Q1 2012.

Hong Kong 's economy expanded 2.8 per cent in Q1 2013 from a year earlier. Economic growth is expected at about 3 per cent in 2013, from 1.4 per cent in 2012.

The United States came in third with house price rises accelerating in Q1 2013, despite a weakening economy. The S&P/Case-Shiller seasonally-adjusted national home price index jumped by 8.31 per cent during the year to end-Q1 2013, recording the biggest year-on-year increase since Q1 2006.

The housing recovery was led by Phoenix, but all of the 20 US major cities registered strong year-on-year house price increases in Q1 2013 Turkey took the fourth slot with house prices increasing by 8.13 per cent during the year to Q1 2013, in sharp contrast with the 1.55 per cent year-on-year decline seen in Q1 2012.

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House prices in Delhi, India, rose the fifth highest in the world. Prices went up by 7.61 per cent during the year to Q1 2013, from year-on-year increases of 6.05 per cent in Q4 2012.

Using inflation-adjusted figures, the Global Property Guide's survey revealed house prices rose in 28 of 42 housing markets which have so far published housing statistics.

Sao Paulo, Brazil, took the sixth position with house prices rising by 7.34 per cent during the year to Q1 2013, far lower than the 18.45 per cent year-on-year increase seen in Q1 2012.

New Zealand, Denmark and Beijing China were placed seventh, eighth and 10th on the list with annual increases of 7.23 per cent, 7.01 per cent and 5.92 per cent, respectively.

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