Global property prices rose by 4.5 percent in 2017, down from seven percent, a research analysis by property consulting group, Knight Frank, released Tuesday has shown.
The report shows that house price slump was a worldwide phenomenon, especially in regions where the market and fundamentals shape price movements.
Berlin, the capital city of Germany did not follow the trend of house price drop as it came out tops out of 150 cities measured by the study, with prices in the German capital ending 21 percent higher. A growth in population, the stable German economy, low unemployment and increased investment have combined to elevate prices in what is regarded as Europe’s coolest capital.
Brexit United Kingdom’s London in the meantime slipped all the way down to 101, with only a two percent increase in prices last year. Edinburgh was the best performing city in the UK last year, recording a price growth of 10.3 percent in 2017. Neighboring Glasgow also recorded strong growth at 8.8 per cent.
“With fiscal stimulus being withdrawn, capital controls in place in China, and the beginning of a shift towards the normalisation of monetary policy, annual price growth above 20 per cent is now confined to only a few outliers,” said Kinght Frank’s Kate Everett-Allen.
“At the end of 2016, 12 cities, most of them Chinese, registered price growth above 20 per cent, a year later only one city falls into this category; Berlin,” she explained.
Other results from the survey show that Iceland had the strongest rising house prices among countries overall, while Peru had the weakest growth in 2017. Despite four interest rate rises in the last 18 months in the US, house prices across the country continue to grow, with Seattle and San Francisco out in front.
