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29 March 2024

Dubai house prices surge the most in the world

Published
By Vicky Kapur

As the world economy gathers momentum, global residential property prices in the second quarter of 2013 witnessed their best annual growth in three years, rising by 2.4 per cent for the quarter, according to a latest report by global property firm Knight Frank.

House prices in Dubai raced ahead of the global pack and have clocked a massive 21.7 per cent surge in the past 12 months (ended June 2013), and the emirate was the only destination to register a 20-per-cent-plus annual growth rate.

“Dubai leads the annual rankings, recording price growth of 21.7 per cent in the year to the end of June. The emirate’s housing market has gained momentum since late 2012, while its prime market led the way, mainstream prices are now following suit,” Kate Everett-Allen of International Residential Research at Knight Frank said in the report.

According to the latest study of global property markets, prices rose in 37 of the 55 countries tracked by the index in the second quarter of 2013, with Dubai house prices surging by 5 per cent during the latest quarter.

House prices in Hong Kong jumped 17.1 per cent during the past 12 months, landing the second spot while house prices in third-placed Taiwan grew 15.4 per cent in the past year.

During the latest quarter, the US, however, witnessed house prices jump by 7.1 per cent even as its annual growth of 10.2 per cent meant that the US did not make it to the Top 10 best performing property markets in the past 12 months.

“The US housing market recovery appears to be on firmer ground, with its second consecutive quarterly rise. Nationally, prices rose by 10.2 per cent in the last 12 months, with the cities of Atlanta and Chicago recording the strongest growth in the second quarter,” said Kate Everett-Allen.

On the other hand, India has seen house prices decline by 1.7 per cent during the latest quarter and by 0.1 per cent during the past six months, according to the Knight Frank Global House Price Index published yesterday. House prices in India are still up by 5.9 per cent year-on-year, landing the troubled emerging market at No. 18 among the 55 countries surveyed by the property firm.

Knight Frank noted in its report that, for the first time since 2010, European countries recorded positive annual price growth.

“However, the average 0.7 per cent uplift over the past 12 months masks a sharp divergence in performance between individual countries with Turkey the strongest performer (up by 12.2 per cent) and Greece the weakest (down by 11.5 per cent) year-on-year,” it said, highlighting Europe’s two-paced economic movements.

However, Europe continues to bring up the bottom 10 countries in terms of house price movements. “For the fourth consecutive quarter, the bottom 10 rankings have all been occupied by European countries,” the Knight Frank report maintains.

While China’s 14.8 per cent annual growth in house prices ranks it at No. 4, that growth seems to have halted with the latest quarter indicating 0 per cent growth in China’s house prices even as data for the past six months shows a significant 10.7 per cent growth in Chinese house prices.

“It is interesting to note that the world’s two largest housing markets – the US and China – are experiencing contrasting fortunes; quarterly growth reached 7.1 per cent in the US but hovered around 0 per cent in China,” she wrote.

The UK, after three years of negative or stuttering price growth in its mainstream market, has found some traction with prices rising by 2.6 per cent in the second quarter.

Knight Frank Global House Price Index – The Top 20

Rank

Country

12-month % change (Q2 2012 – Q2 2013)

6-month % change (Q4 2012 – Q2 2013)

3-month % change (Q1 2013 – Q2 2013)

1

Dubai, UAE

21.7%

14.7%

5.0%

2

Hong Kong*

19.1%

6.7%

1.4%

3

Taiwan

15.4%

11.9%

7.4%

4

China**

14.8%

10.7%

0.0%

5

Colombia

12.7%

7.2%

2.4%

6

Turkey

12.2%

5.9%

3.8%

7

Indonesia

12.1%

7.1%

2.2%

8

Estonia

11.9%

8.7%

5.2%

9

Brazil³

11.9%

5.8%

3.0%

10

Ukraine

10.9%

4.0%

2.3%

11

South Africa

10.8%

4.3%

1.8%

12

United States

10.2%

8.3%

7.1%

13

Austria

8.5%

0.4%

-0.3%

14

New Zealand

8.4%

 

4.6%

1.5%

15

Russia

6.4%

2.4%

1.1%

16

Israel

6.4%

3.5%

-1.3%

17

Malaysia*

6.0%

0.3%

-2.6%

18

India

5.9%

-0.1%

-1.7%

19

Germany

5.4%

4.3%

4.6%

20

Norway

5.4%

5.6%

2.6%

Source: Knight Frank; *Provisional Data; ** Based on Beijing & Shanghai; *** Asking Prices