Global luxury home sale prices nudged up in 2020

Auckland, New Zealand; Shenzhen, China; and Seoul, South Korea, saw biggest gains

Auckland, New Zealand and Shenzhen, China (iStock)
Auckland, New Zealand and Shenzhen, China (iStock)

Global luxury home sale prices ticked up slightly in 2020, as pent-up demand created by coronavirus lockdowns led to buying binges.

The average price for a luxury home that sold rose 1.9 percent in 2020, compared to its 1.8 percent increase in 2019, according to Knight Frank’s Prime International Residential Index 100, cited by Mansion Global.

While 29 of the 100 markets in the index reported year-over-year price declines — compared to 21 in 2019 — there were five markets that recorded double-digit percentage increases compared to two in 2019.

Among those were Auckland, New Zealand, which saw the most significant jump in luxury home sale prices at 18 percent. Shenzhen, China, had a 13 percent rise; Seoul, South Korea, had a 12 percent jump; and Manila in the Philippines saw a 10 percent uptick.

The analysis also looked at regional luxury price changes. Among the largest increases were North America, which had a 6.3 percent price rise and Australasia — comprising Australia, New Zealand and neighbouring islands — which saw a 4.9 percent jump.

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Plenty of cities around the globe also saw declines in high-end property sales. Cape Town saw a 9.2 percent slide, while Bangkok home sale prices dropped 7.3 percent and Hong Kong prices fell 6.9 percent, according to Knight Frank.

In the U.S., overall home sale prices in December rose 10.4 percent year-over-year, according to a report released last week by Case-Shiller. That followed seven straight months of growth after Covid-related restrictions on real estate business.

The pandemic and the proliferation of remote working spurred buying in suburban and rural areas in the U.S., while bottoming out in urban markets like New York. But those, too, have shown signs of recovery lately, with home prices increasing 15 percent in metros in the three months ending in January.

[MG] — Dennis Lynch