London tops the ranking for global luxury property, new report finds

London has topped the rankings of luxury property markets in the world for the second year in a row according to a new report from Christie’s International Real Estate. The report entitled Luxury Defined: An Insight into the Luxury Residential Property Market, presents an indepth analysis of luxury market trends and compares 10 of the world’s top property markets.

The markets featured are the Cote d’Azur, Hong Kong, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Paris, San Francisco, Sydney, Toronto and London.

Using ‘Christie’s International Real Estate Index,’ markets were ranked across key metrics including record sales price, prices per square foot, percentage of non-local and international purchasers, and the number of luxury listings relative to population.

London topped the index with the highest record home sales price of all the cities at US$101.5 million. Square foot prices in London were also higher than any other city averaging $4,683 in 2013, significantly greater than the second highest found in Hong Kong at $2,578.

The entry price point for luxury property in London was found to be the highest of any market analysed, at $7.8 million. London also saw a 20% increase in number of luxury property sales in 2013 with 5,693 properties in total.

Price increases and supply constraints did little to detract buyers in prime central London as 2013 recorded the highest number of home sales since the 2006 peak, with significant growth in high priced transactions.

The report also shows that New York experienced significant growth in luxury real estate sales volume despite low inventory while in third position, Los Angeles saw the highest sale in the United States at US$74.5 million.

Hong Kong ranked fourth with an exceptional US$83.8 million top sale despite government cooling measures impacting sales volume and in San Francisco home sales over US$1 million jumped by 62% year on year.

‘Although over the past year we have seen a surge in domestic demand, international buyers still account for just under 50% of Knightsbridge and Chelsea buyers and have fuelled much of the activity at the top end of the market, pushing the number of sales over £5 million up 7.5% year on year,’ said Lulu Egerton, partner at Strutt & Parker, the sole UK affiliate of Christie’s International Real Estate.

Second home buyers accounted for 48% of buyers in London and this is attributed to a surge in high net worth individuals from turbulent markets looking to move equity into stable and currency favourable locations.

‘We continue to see a flight to great cities. A transparent, secure, and liquid market is attracting homebuyers from all over the world to London, a truly cosmopolitan city offering one of the world’s great lifestyles,’ explained Andy Martin, senior partner at Strutt & Parker.

Source: www.propertywire.com