Knight Frank launches the latest Prime Global Rental Index for Q3 2014. An annual rise of 2.1% in the 12 months to September represents the index’s weakest rate of annual growth for almost five years.
Results for Q3 2014:
• Prime global rents rose by 2.1% in the year to September 2014, down from 5.8% a year earlier
• Dubai leads the annual rankings with rents rising by 12.4% year-on-year
• Moscow and Geneva have replaced Hong Kong and Singapore at the bottom of the annual rankings
• Tokyo and New York saw prime rents accelerate by 9.8% and 7.9% respectively in the 12 months to September
• Of the 15 cities tracked by the index, we expect New York and London to record the strongest increase in prime rents in 2015, while Hong Kong prime rents are expected to drop 5 to 10% this year. David Ji, Director, Head of Research and Consultancy, Greater China at Knight Frank adds, “As the potential interest-rate rise in the US and the continual implementation of government cooling measures are expected to suppress the price growth of luxury flats, more landlords could put their flats onto the leasing market instead of the sales market, boosting leasing supply and dragging down luxury residential rentals.”
Kate Everett-Allen, Partner, International Residential Research, says, “Prime rental markets often move in the opposite direction to the sales sector. With the luxury sales market now the target of both cooling measures (Asia) and a changing tax landscape (UK, US, France), we expect the Prime Global Rental Index to strengthen in 2015 with London and New York leading the way.”