Vancouver was dubbed as the top performing city worldwide according to a new report into the 2015 global luxury real estate market. In a top 100 list that included San Francisco, Monaco and Shanghai, Vancouver was the clear leader, with prices rising to 24.5 percent last year.
Sydney placed second with a 14.8 percent growth in the same time frame. According to Yahoo News, Toronto ranked at number 12, with an eight percent rise.
Vancouver's exponential growth was recognized by U.K.-based Knight Frank's The Wealth Report. The real estate consultant ranked cities in what they dubbed their Prime International Residential Index, which, they claimed tracks the most desirable property markets around the world. They defined prime property as the most sought-after and most expensive property in a specific location which is generally the top five percent of any given market. Vancouver's surge was due to a lack of supply compared to global demand, as well as the weak Canadian dollar.
The report also noted that central London did not enter the top 100 list, but that its market saw a growth of one percent last year, despite a set of new property taxes being introduced, many of which were centered on foreign buying. This policy pressure is expected to grow rather than interest rate speculation.
Frank's global head of research, Liam Bailey, wrote that there was increased attention being paid by governments on the impact of growing investor demand for residential property. This has caused a negative effect on affordability in certain urban markets. He stated that higher taxes, foreign investment curbs and loan caps will continue to spread all over the globe.
Vancouver, however, was nowhere to be seen when it comes to cities that matter most to the world's wealthiest. According to The Globe and Mail, Bailey wrote that there was no direct correlation between the locations where the rich are normally residents and the locations their advisers claim as being most important to them.
