Sydney leads 2016 property price growth forecast

New research reveals that high-end property prices in Sydney are likely to rise at a higher rate than those in any other major global city in 2016.

Knight Frank’s annual ‘Prime Cities Forecast’ reveals that property prices in Australia’s largest city are set to rise by around 10 per cent over the next 12 months. However, the residential and commercial property consultancy did state that that Sydney was experiencing a price-growth slowdown from 2015’s 15 per cent due to “Australia’s economic slowdown, weaker stock market performance in recent months, and the introduction of foreign investment fees,” starting to have an impact.

New York and Monaco were in joint second, with Knight Frank predicting growth of approximately 5 per cent in these two markets. The consultancy did note that demand for luxury New York property has cooled since 2013 and 2014, while already high prices in tax haven Monaco mean that growth won’t be as high as it has in previous years.

Elsewhere, the prices of high-end properties Shanghai are likely to grow at around 4 per cent during the next 12 months – although Knight Frank warned a sluggish Chinese market overall could dampen the predicted rises in the city. Miami (tied with London) rounded out the top five – or six. That said, Knight Frank actually cut its growth forecast for the US coastal city to 2 per cent for this year, from 4 per cent last year as weakened US dollar against key currencies could hit demand.

A rise in transaction costs, political risk around the mayoral election, and ongoing affordability were reasons cited for the lower than expected growth forecast in the UK’s capital.