According to the most recent index from Knight Frank, New York continued to hold the top spot in the globe for super-luxury housing markets last year, but it had to share the honours with London. There were 43 transactions worth US$25 million or more in both locations. In contrast to New York, where the number was down 35 per cent from the previous year, London saw a 26 per cent rise from 2021.

Liam Bailey, global head of research at Knight Frank, stated in the report released on Wednesday that “despite rising economic headwinds and growing uncertainty, the world’s wealthy have been committing to luxury residential property,” with London and New York being the standout cities in demand for ultra-prime sales.

Los Angeles claimed the third position with 39 purchases costing US$25 million or more. Even though it had a turbulent year for its property market, Hong Kong came in second with 28 ultra-prime sales, followed by Miami with 23. These cities also had the most sales of US$10 million or more in 2022, which is not unexpected. According to the report, New York topped the list with 244 sales at this price range, followed by Los Angeles with 225 and London with 223.

There were a total of 1,392 sales at or above US$10 million across the top 10 cities, which also included Singapore, Palm Beach, Florida, Geneva, Sydney, and Paris. This is a decrease from the record 2,076 transactions at this level registered in 2021 but an increase of 49 per cent from pre-Covid 2019.

85 of the 100 prime property markets Knight Frank monitors experienced either positive or stable price increase in 2022. Due to its generous visa incentives, which have drawn many ultra-high-net-worth buyers, Dubai outperformed the competition with an astounding 44.2 per cent yearly growth rate, according to Knight Frank. Other top markets with rising home values included Aspen, which saw a 27.6 per cent year-over-year increase, Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, which saw a 25 per cent annual growth rate, Tokyo, which saw a 22.8 per cent annual growth rate, and Miami, which saw a 21.6 per cent increase.

The study found that markets that experienced some of the pandemic’s strongest growth also experienced some of the steepest price declines in 2022. These markets included Wellington (-24 per cent) and Auckland (-19 per cent) in New Zealand, Stockholm (-8 per cent), Vancouver (-7 per cent), and Seoul (-5 per cent). With the exception of 2021, which was a record year, the Knight Frank Prime International Residential Index increased 5.2 per cent on an annual basis in 2022. This is the greatest growth rate since the global financial crisis.

According to Kate Everett-Allen, partner of residential research at Knight Frank, “wealth preservation, safe-haven capital flight, and supply constraints played their role in driving prime price growth.” however, the post-pandemic surge was what kept prices rising.

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