.jpg?nLJ7Jo22Au7RhUw0O.MNjMC6dnIiAMN2&itok=tW-pxvIO "Seoul registered an 18.4% surge in luxury home prices last year, beating other markets globally (Picture: Bloomberg)")
Knight Frank’s Prime International Residential Index 100 (PIRI 100), which tracks and analyses the annual price growth for luxury housing across 100 key cities, increased by 3.6% in 2024, according to the real estate consultancy’s annual The Wealth Report.
This is slightly higher than the 3.3% growth registered in 2023 but still lags behind the long-run trend of 4.5% seen over the past two decades, the report adds. Of the 100 markets tracked, 77 saw price growth, while 23 saw prices fall or stagnate.
Asian and Middle Eastern markets dominated the top spots on the list. Seoul took pole position, registering an 18.4% surge in luxury home prices last year. This performance was supported by “significant local wealth creation and the expansion of investable luxury residential developments within the capital,” says Christine Li, head of research at Knight Frank Asia-Pacific.
Manila logged a price growth of 17.9% in 2024, extending the 26.3% growth it charted the year before when it topped the PIRI 100. Dubai, Riyadh, Tokyo and Jeddah rounded out the top six, recording luxury residential price growth of 16.9%, 16%, 12.1% and 9.6%, respectively.
On the other hand, heavyweight markets such as New York and London remained near the bottom of the list, registering contractions of 0.3% and 1%, respectively, as they continue to struggle to gain traction post-pandemic. Knight Frank’s report adds that interest rates remain high in most developed markets, dampening activity.
Regionally, the Middle East saw the strongest growth in prime residential prices, rising 7.2% in 2024. Latin America came in second at 6.3%, followed by Asia Pacific (3.2%), Europe (2.5%) and North America (2.4%).
Across a longer timeframe, Dubai’s surge in luxury property prices trumps the global market. In the last five years, prime residential prices in the emirate have shot up 147%. The growth comes in tandem with a rise in super-prime transactions of US$10 million ($13.3 million) or more. In the 12 months to September 2024, the city recorded 388 such deals, beating New York’s 230.
Other prime markets that have seen robust repricing over the last five years include Florida’s Palm Beach, which rose 117%, followed by Manila (87%), Miami (84%), and Aspen (73%).
The Wealth Report also examined changes in real estate buying power across various markets by benchmarking how much square footage can be purchased with a budget of US$1 million in 2024 compared to a decade ago.
Findings across 20 select markets indicate a decline in buying power across most markets. Markets that saw a significant drop include Dubai, where purchasing power fell 59% from 2,024 sq ft in 2014 to 840 sq ft in 2024, and Los Angeles, which shrank 46%, from 732 sq ft to 398 sq ft.
In 2014, a budget of US$1 million in Singapore would have secured 441 sq ft of luxury real estate. By 2024, that figure had dropped to 344 sq ft, reflecting a 22% decline.
Monaco ranks as the priciest market on the list, with US$1 million buying just 204 sq ft of space in 2024. In contrast, Mumbai offers far more for the same amount, with 1,066 sq ft available for US$1 million.
