Key takeaways from this year’s Prime International Residential Index
Discover the trends driving this year’s Prime International Residential Index (PIRI 100), Knight Frank’s latest research into the world’s key property markets.
4 minutes to read
With global interest rates edging lower over the past 12 months, prime residential price growth started to tick higher in 2024. Our unique Prime International Residential Index reveals the big themes across the world’s 100 leading luxury city, sun and ski destinations. Here we take a look at the key takeaways – discover the full insights in the 2025 edition of Knight Frank’s The Wealth Report.
The locations leading growth in 2024
Global luxury house prices rose 3.6% through 2024, marginally up on the 3.3% seen in 2023 but still lagging the long‑run trend of 4.5% seen over the past two decades. Fully 77 of the 100 markets we track saw price growth in 2024, three were at a standstill and 20 saw prices fall.
The improvement in the annual growth rate was driven by strong regional performance in the Middle East (7.2%) and Latin America and the Caribbean (6.3%). Europe lagged at 2.5%, with high interest rates, slowing economies and weakened consumer confidence weighing on activity in some key markets. There were, however, bright spots, especially in key second‑home markets. North American growth (2.4%) was held back by weaker growth in Canadian prime markets and some US markets, such as Miami, which slowed after recent strong growth.
With average growth of 3.7%, sunbelt markets led city markets (3.5%) and ski destinations (2.6%). The year's strong showing from resort markets continues the trend seen since the pandemic with nearly 30% growth in values in these markets, against 25% for ski markets, and cities lagging posting only 19% growth.
Asian and Middle Eastern markets take the top spots
The top six spots in our PIRI 100 ranking are taken by Asian and Middle Eastern markets, with Seoul (18.4%), Manila (17.9%) and Dubai (16.9%) leading the list. Saudi Arabian markets performed strongly this year, with Riyadh and Jeddah both making the top six.
The weaker performers included some of the bigger global hub markets such as New York (-0.3%), London (-1%) and Hong Kong (-2.2%), which have struggled to gain traction since the pandemic, as well as some markets that have seen strong growth in recent years but which took a back seat in 2024. These included Austin (-4.3%) and Melbourne (-1.9%).
The impact of interest rates on prime property markets
Even for prime property markets, interest rates remain the key story. Rates are still very high in most developed markets compared with where they were as recently as 2022, but the past 12 months have seen central banks move decisively into a new era, with cuts outpacing rate rises for the first time in three years. While the direction of travel is positive for house prices and has supported the growth we have seen in over three‑quarters of markets, the reduction in debt costs is still not sufficient to turn this into a trend in most markets. It will take additional rate cuts during 2025 to restore momentum.
The balance of supply and demand
On the supply side, a lack of new‑build inventory is still impacting many markets. Disruption to supply chains, high build cost inflation and wage hikes have all conspired to reduce delivery of new luxury housing projects. To take central London as one example, new‑build activity is currently running 25% below the 10‑year average.
Aside from new‑build volumes, a low inventory of existing homes to buy is also supporting prices. The collapse in property listings, a feature of prime US markets in 2023 and early 2024, has eased recently – but markets such as New York are still seeing listings 10% to 20% below the five‑year average.
On the demand side, while buyers are price conscious, especially with relatively high debt costs, there remains strong appetite for residential property among wealthy buyers. Our survey of family offices confirms that 25% of offices with an active family residential portfolio are planning new acquisitions over the next 18 months. Further results of the survey can be found in Knight Frank’s The Wealth Report
The prime property markets to watch
Over the past five years a number of markets have seen significant upwards repricing, with Dubai leading with a 147% rise. This year’s second strongest market, Manila, has seen consistently strong growth over the same period with an 87% rise powered by an expanding economy and interest from expat Filipinos reinvesting in the city.
It is the US, however, which had the biggest cluster of growth markets over this period. Palm Beach (117%), Miami (84%) and Aspen (73%) are the standout performers, where the strength of the US economy and investment markets has fed through to substantial price rises.
In the 2025 edition of Knight Frank’s The Wealth Report we take a deep dive into the key prime residential markets.
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