How are the world's top prime residential markets expected to perform in 2020?
In search of returns
With capital growth in most prime residential markets shrinking in 2019, we set out our forecast for 2020 and outline the key trends that look set to shape future performance.
1 minute to read
At the end of 2019, the global economic landscape looks markedly different from that a year ago. In 2018, economists predicted 'the new normal' – that of higher interest rates and more expensive debt – yet it failed to materialise. Instead, we have seen 144* interest rate cuts globally in the last year, with quantitative easing (QE), once an extraordinary measure, now back on the agenda in the US and the Eurozone.
With interest rates remaining lower for longer, property’s attraction has been reinforced. Yet, at the prime end of the market, particularly, in the world’s top tier cities, sales volumes largely drifted lower during 2019.
Prime price growth also stumbled in 2019 across many cities. The Knight Frank Prime Global Cities Index, which tracks the movement in prime prices across 45 cities worldwide, is mirroring global economic growth. The average annual rate of growth in the year to Q3 2019 was 1.1%, meaning prime prices are rising at their slowest rate in a decade (figure 1).
From the interminably tedious Brexit negotiations to the US/China trade tensions, Hong Kong protests and climate change, the level of uncertainty ramped up a gear in 2019. But what about 2020?
For further information please contact Kate Everett-Allen