Mainland Chinese cities dominated prime global house price growth in 2017, according to a report Monday from London-based real estate advisers and agents Savills.
Of the 35 markets analyzed by Savills, Chongqing, a city in southwest China, saw the largest price growth in prime properties, up 48.5% from the year previously to an average price per square foot of $290 (all prices are in U.S. dollars).
More:Vince Camuto’s Hamptons Estate—Asking $72 Million—Finds Buyer
Despite moderate price growth of 6.4% last year, Hong Kong remains the world’s most expensive city for prime residential property at $4,000 per square foot, followed by Tokyo with $3,280, London at $1,770 and New York with $1,570.
Of the top 10 price performers in terms of price growth, five were mainland Chinese cities. Chongqing was followed by Tianjin, which logged price increases of 39.4%, Wuhan (25.5%), Hangzhou (25%) and Guangzhou (12.2%), according to Savills.
Just two European cities, Dublin (12.6%) and Amsterdam (10.7%), made the top 10 for price growth, and were joined by San Francisco (12.3%), the sole U.S. city and Vancouver (16%). Tokyo rounded out the top 10, logging growth of 10.2%, pushing up the price per square of prime property in the Japanese capital to $3,280, the report said.
More:Opportunity Greets Luxury Buyers as Sydney Market Slides
It wasn’t all good news though, as one-third of the cities analyzed saw prime values stall or fall all together, including long-established prime markets like New York (-2.7%), London (-3.3%), Miami (-3.7%) and Shanghai (-5.7%). But all had seen very large price increases in the years following the global financial crisis, the report said, and overall, values in these cities are still higher than they were 10 years ago.
Prime property in Johannesburg, South Africa, saw the biggest price drop, recording falls of 9.1%, bringing the average price per square foot in the city to $70, according to the report.