GLOBAL CITIES UPDATE

Budapest leads the index this quarter, Chinese cities occupy five of the top ten rankings and the impact of government intervention is apparent.

The Hungarian capital of Budapest leads the index for the second consecutive quarter with average prices rising 25% over the 12-month period. A robust economy, higher wages and historically low mortgage rates are fuelling demand. The IMF forecast GDP growth of 3.2% in 2019 for Hungary, compared to 1.6% for the wider European Union and interest rates on new residential loans have fallen from 10.5% to around 4.7% over the last
six years.

Chinese cities occupy five of the other top ten rankings with the city of Xi’an (24%) leading the way. A comparison of one-year and five-year price growth confirms that it is second and third tier cities that are now performing strongest, with tier one cities such as Beijing and Shanghai experiencing slower growth.