House price growth across world’s major cities hits...

The average price of a home across 150 cities worldwide increased by 6.9% in the 12 months to March 2017, the latest Global Residential Cities Index from Knight Frank has revealed.

Chinese cities continued to dominate the top rankings, but first tier cities such as Beijing and Shanghai have shifted downwards, according to the data.

Tighter regulations in the form of higher loan-to-value ratios and limits on second home purchases are now filtering through into China’s house price indicators. The average price change across all 20 Chinese cities tracked by our index declined from 19.2% last quarter to 15.9% this quarter.

Property prices in Toronto increased by 24.8% in the year to March but a 15% foreign buyer tax introduced in April suggests the city may follow Vancouver’s path further down the rankings later this year.

According to the latest data, the number of residential sales in Toronto fell 20.3% in May compared with a year earlier.

Vancouver, where a foreign buyer tax was introduced in August 2016 and then moderated to exclude those with work permits, has seen annual price growth decline from 25.8% in August 2016 to 12.2% in March 2017.

Oslo remains Europe’s strongest performing city for the second consecutive quarter with growth of 21%, but the Icelandic capital, Reykjavik, is hot on its heels. Prices here have surged 18.3% in the year to March 2017 up from 6.3% a year earlier.

The Netherlands is emerging as a key centre of growth. The country’s four largest cities – Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Utrecht and The Hague – all saw price growth in excess of 10% in the year to March 2017.

Of the 150 cities tracked, 123, or 82%, recorded positive annual price growth and 40 of these recorded double-digit rises.

Kate Everett-Allen, partner, international residential research, said “Our top ten is dominated by Chinese cities, occupying seven places, the remaining three positions are filled by Toronto, Hamilton and Oslo.”