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Chinese Cities Lead the Pack in House Price Growth

Moscow was the worst performing city as its economy struggles

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Once again Shenzhen (pictured) led the way, although annual price growth in the city has slowed from 63% to 47% in the last three months.

Daniel Berehulak / Getty Images
Once again Shenzhen (pictured) led the way, although annual price growth in the city has slowed from 63% to 47% in the last three months.
Daniel Berehulak / Getty Images

China may have not topped the gold medal table at the Rio Olympics, but its cities are certainly winning the race when it comes to house price growth.

Six Chinese cities earned spots in real estate consultancy Knight Frank’s latest global house price index released Tuesday, which tracked annual growth rates in 150 key cities in the second quarter of the year.

Once again Shenzhen led the way, although annual price growth in the city has slowed from 63% to 47% in the last three months. Shanghai, Nanjing, Beijing, Guangzhou and Hangzhou also made the top 10.

"Their ascension has been rapid. According to data from China’s National Bureau of Statistics the average annual rate of growth for the top 10 performing Chinese cities equates to 22% in the year to June, a year earlier the comparable figure was -1.1% for the same 10 cities," said Kate Everett-Allen, a partner at Knight Frank.

"A number of the municipal governments in China are now introducing a new raft of stringent cooling measures at a local level to dampen sales, these range from limiting non-locals to single home purchases and tightening rules for local residents in relation to second home purchases."

The overall index grew by 5.5% in the second quarter of the year, the strongest annual rate of growth for two years. Of the 150 cities tracked, 114 recorded positive annual price growth and 31 cities witnessed double-digit price growth.

In Europe, Budapest saw the fastest pace of growth at 24%, while four of the continent’s top 10 performing cities were in the U.K.—Bristol, London Nottingham and Birmingham—despite uncertainty in the run up to the Brexit vote on June 23.

More:London Mayor Sadiq Khan Launches First Probe into Foreign Home Ownership

Over in the U.S., meanwhile, the top performing city was Portland, Oregon, with prices rising 12.6% year-over-year. This was followed by Seattle, Washington, which saw growth of 11.1% on the back of a booming tech sector. New York was in 98th place with growth of 2.2%

One Canadian city—Vancouver—made it into the top 10. It saw prices rise 23.4% year-over-year as surging demand from home and abroad combined with limited supply pushed up the average cost of a property. More recently, authorities have taken measures to cool the market, slapping a 15% tax on foreign buyers.

With an annual drop of 11%, Moscow was the worst performing city as its economy struggles amid a backdrop of international sanctions and plunging oil prices, decreasing demand for homes.

More:Moscow’s Luxury Rents Rise Faster Than Any Other City

Other cities slipping in the rankings over the last quarter include Istanbul (falling from 3rd to 9th), Stockholm (from 6th to 29th) and Auckland (from 8th to 15th).

City Price Growth Y/Y
Shenzhen 47.4%
Shanghai 33.8%
Nanjing 31.5%
Budapest 23.6%
Vancouver 23.4%
Beijing 22.3%
Guangzhou 19.4%
Hangzhou 17.4%
Istanbul 17.2%
Haifa 16.3%

Source: Knight Frank

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