Prime residential property in Apac now a buyer’s market: Knight Frank

PRIME residential prices have fallen globally for the second consecutive quarter in Q3 2022. As prices fall in line with current monetary policy, conditions will remain uneven in the short term, with the prime residential property in Asia-Pacific now a buyer’s market, said Christine Li, head of research, Knight Frank Asia-Pacific (Apac).

Li’s comments come after Knight Frank published the latest Prime Global Cities Index on Thursday (Nov 10), which reported that 19 out of 45 cities saw prime prices decline in Q3 this year.

Prime residential prices in the Asia-Pacific continued to cool in the third quarter, with the region’s cities making up 11 of the 19 markets globally that recorded a decline between June and September 2022 – a stark reversal from annualised figures which had just four markets in the red, noted Li.

However, 84 per cent of cities tracked continued to register prime price growth on annual basis. The markets that registered some of the strongest price rises during the pandemic are represented among cities such as San Francisco, Toronto, Wellington, Stockholm, Vancouver, Los Angeles, Seoul, as well as some Chinese Mainland cities.

Tokyo and Gold Coast were among the Apac cities within the six global prime cities that registered double-digit annual price growth. 

The report also found that prices in prime central London have seen the fastest rate of growth since Q1 2015.

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“Resilient labour markets, a lack of supply and well-capitalised lenders will support prime prices in most markets into 2023,” said Victoria Garrett, head of residential, Knight Frank Apac.

The same can also be said for the South-east Asian market, whose price levels are likely to remain supported by the continued supply imbalance and reopening of travel and immigration, said Li, who observed that declines within the regional market have moderated.

The Prime Global Cities Index is a valuation-based index that tracks the movement of prime residential prices – defined as the top 5 per cent of the housing market in value terms – across 45 cities worldwide in the year to Q3 2022. The index tracks nominal prices in local currencies.