Double-digit sales growth in resort destinations like Cote d’Azur and St Barts pushed the global luxury property market higher in 2014, according to a new report from Christie's International Real Estate, the luxury real estate arm of the fine art auction house Christie’s. While 2013 was marked by buyers returning to cities, 2014 was powered by strong sales in ski and sun destinations preferred by ultra-affluent international visitors, according to the report, which examines trends shaping the luxury real estate market. “'Jet set destinations’ soared 28% over 2013, fueled by attractive investment opportunities, below market-peak prices, and an emerging confidence that the market has bottomed and a recovery is well under way,” said Dan Conn, CEO of Christie’s International Real Estate. Second-home buyers drove market growth in places like Marrakesh and Turks & Caicos, where top-end buyers were overwhelmingly from overseas. In the 80 markets surveyed world-wide, luxury home sales ($1 million plus) on average jumped 16% over 2013, with resort markets leading the upsurge in high-value sales. London, meanwhile, topped the year’s Luxury Index, a ranking of top 10 prime residential markets based on top sales prices, high average prices per square foot, and number of luxury sales. Next were New York, Hong Kong, Sydney, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Paris, Dubai, Miami and Toronto. Most of the world's top 10 cities saw slower growth in sales compared to the sharp increase posted in 2013. Toronto was the only location in the top 10 prime markets to see a faster pace in 2014 compared with 2013, with a 37% increase in luxury home sales. At the ultra-high end of the market more properties than ever before were listed and sold at $100 million or higher. Of the five $100 million-plus homes sold in 2014, two were in cities (Hong Kong at $104 million and New York City at $100 million). “HNWIs are more focused than ever on trophy residential assets,” Conn said. The growth in the fortunes of billionaires in 2014 has fueled interest in ultra-high end homes worldwide, he added. The average starting price of a luxury home across the globe was $2 million, with Beverly Hills marking the highest entry point at $8 million, London at $6 million, New York at $5 million, and Paris starting at $3 million. San Francisco, which posted a 62% increase in $1 million-plus home sales in 2013 compared with 2012, had a growth of just 19% in 2014. The strong sales in the city ranked among the highest in the U.S. for 2013. In Miami, the sales figures also slowed from 27% growth in 2013 to 9% in 2014. Hong Kong posted a decline for two consecutive years following government measures designed to slow the spike of real estate values and reduce the impact of foreign real estate investors. Luxury home sales decreased by 15% in 2013 and then dropped another 33% in 2014.