The world’s fastest growing luxury market is in the Philippines

Luxury prices in Manila shot up by 11.1 percent year-over-year

Manila (Credit: Getty, Pixabay)
Manila (Credit: Getty, Pixabay)

Welcome to Manila, capital of the Philippines and the fastest growing luxury market in the world.

The city’s luxury sector saw an 11.1 percent price increase year over year, making it the fastest growing city among 100 global prime markets that Knight Frank tracks, according to Mansion Global. This increase is due to the country’s strong economy and low supply of luxury housing.

But Manila’s growth is much lower compared to top cities in prior years, Knight Frank’s head of international residential research Kate Everett-Allen told Mansion Global.

“In the past 12 years that we have been compiling the index, the top-performing market has yet to record annual growth below 21 percent,” she said. “This is a breakaway from the norm.”

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The only other cities this year to show double-digit growth were Edinburgh, Berlin, Munich and Buenos Aires. Knight Frank’s overall prime international residential index rose by 1.3 percent in 2018, the lowest annual growth rate since 2012.

New York’s luxury market declined by 2.5 percent thanks to a strong U.S. dollar, a volatile stock market and an over-saturated luxury market. It was still the third most expensive city to buy a prime property, with $1 million getting buyers about 330 square feet.

Monaco was the most expensive city by this metric, with $1 million buying just 172 square feet of space. [Mansion Global] – Eddie Small