Britain avoids global prime property slip
THE VALUE of prime property in the world’s major cities dropped in the first three months of 2012, industry figures revealed today – the first time prices have fallen since 2009.
Knight Frank’s prime global cities index registered a 0.4 per cent fall, led by Tel Aviv’s 6.6 per cent drop, Kiev’s fall of 6.4 per cent and Manhattan’s 4.3 per cent decline.
However London’s top property prices rose 2.7 per cent in the quarter, Dubai’s four per cent and Jakarta’s 3.3 per cent.
“Quarterly price growth averaged only 0.6 per cent in 2011, and the first three months of 2012 brought little new momentum,” said Knight Frank’s Kate Everett Allen. “The Eurozone’s debt debacle remained at the forefront of the global economic agenda, several critical elections were on the horizon, in Russia, France and Greece, and Asia’s highly-effective cooling measures showed no sign of being relaxed.”
Over the 12 months to March, Nairobi was the strongest performer, with prices rising 24.2 per cent.
Jakarta’s prices rose 14.3 per cent in the year, Miami’s 13.9 per cent and London’s 11.3 per cent.
Moscow and Singapore’s housing markets are expected to join them with rapid price growth through the remainder of the year.