Worldwide growth in luxury real estate prices begins to slow

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Best-performing cities, from left: Hong Kong, St. Petersburg and Paris

Turns out the rich aren’t completely immune to a world that seems on the brink of economic disaster. Sure, luxury real estate prices in “prime global cities” continue to grow even as much of the rest of the world is underwater, but in the second quarter of 2011, that growth slowed. Prices rose just 7 percent year-over-year for the priciest real estate in the most coveted cities, which pales in comparison to the 14 percent growth experienced in 2010, according to data by Knight Frank cited by Business Insider.

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More recently, quarter-over-quarter data shows further stagnation. Compared to last yer, prices skyrocketed more than 10 percent for the top three performing cities, Hong Kong (16.1 percent), St. Petersburg (12.2 percent) and Paris (10 percent). But compared to last quarter, St. Petersburg was the only market of those three to post gains of more than 2.5 percent.

Manhattan is bucking the trend of recent stagnation. Luxury prices in the second quarter jumped 6.8 percent compared to the prior year quarter, and a solid 3.6 percent over the first quarter, according to the report. Although, as local experts would be quick to point out, the spring buying season and an influx of foreign buyers capitalizing on the weak dollar have contributed to that. [Business Insider]