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China’s Housing Prices Growing Fastest in the World

Toronto saw the steepest price growth over the last 12 months, report finds

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Prices rose 20.8 in Hong Kong year to year

Getty Images
Prices rose 20.8 in Hong Kong year to year
Getty Images

Toronto home prices have seen the highest growth in the world over the last year, but Chinese cities are growing the fastest, according to a report Thursday.

In the 12 months ending in June, Toronto house prices have grown 26.1%, according to the Hurun Research Institute’s half-year report.

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In the report’s ranking of the top 50 cities around the world with the highest price growth, 42 saw prices rise by 10%, according to a news release detailing the findings by the Hurun Research Institute, a research house based in Shanghai known for its rankings of the world’s richest people.

Half of the list, meanwhile, had prices rise by 20%.

After Toronto, rounding out the top five were Reykjavik, Iceland (23%); and Chinese cities Wuxi (22.9%), Hong Kong (20.8%) and Zhengzhou (20.2%).

Toronto also led in return of investment at 32.4%

It’s not particularly surprising that Toronto ranked No. 1, as the Canadian city has seen such a surge in real estate, officials introduced regulations in April to calm the market. Though not reflected in the Hurun report, the measures appear to be working as Toronto saw a 40% drop in sales in July compared to 12 months prior.

China dominated Hurun’s list, with six cities in the top 10 and 21 in the top 50.

"Global asset allocation is one of the biggest trends now for China’s high net worth individuals, led by real estate," said Rupert Hoogewerf, chairman and chief researcher of Hurun Report, in the news release.

The top U.S. cities cracking the list were Seattle at 27, which had a 12.7% price growth, and Dallas, which was tied at 38th with Dublin, with a 11.2% rise.

While U.S cities didn’t fill the top-five in term of price growth, the nation was still the preferred destination for purchasing overseas property, with Los Angeles ranking as the No. 1 city, followed by Seattle, San Francisco, New York and Canada’s Vancouver.

The report was based on three factors: the annual house price changes, rental yields and change of the yuan currency.