Knight Frank, the independent global property consultancy, today launches the Global House Price Index* for Q1 2018. The index tracks the movement in mainstream residential prices on a national basis across 57 markets using data from official sources such as Central Banks and National Statistics Offices.
Results for Q1 2018:
- The index increased by 4.8% in the year to March 2018. House prices are rising in 86% of the 57 countries tracked by the index.
- Only 9% of the markets tracked registered price growth above 10%, down from 18% a year ago.
- Hong Kong leads the index for the first time since the second quarter of 2015, with average prices ending the 12 months to March, 14.9% higher. Since the index was first published in 2008, Hong Kong has held the top spot on ten different occasions – more than any other market tracked.
- Analysis by world region shows Asia Pacific (5.7%) came in second after North America (6.6%).
- Europe’s recovery is now well-underway, closer analysis confirms 11 of the 15 strongest-performing housing markets globally were in Europe at the end of March 2018.
Nicholas Holt, Head of Research for Asia-Pacific, says, “While most Asia-Pacific markets saw moderate house price growth in Q1 2018, Hong Kong’s 4.6% quarter-on-quarter and 14.9% year-on-year growth made it the fastest riser globally over the last 12 months. Despite the prospect of increasing interest rates, strong market momentum will underpin continued price growth through 2018.”
David Ji, Director and Head of Research and Consultancy, Greater China, further explains, “In Hong Kong, demand from both investors and end-users remains strong despite government’s cooling measures. Secondary residential transactions continued to increase, while total residential sales are expected to reach about 60,000-63,000 units in 2018. And we forecast mass residential price will increase 8-12% by the end of the year.”