Hungary for fastest growing property market

Following a 24% year-on-year increase in house prices in Q3 of 2019, Budapest ranks top of 150 global residential cities, to become the fastest growing housing market globally. Knight Frank reported.

As Hungary’s capital, Budapest’s housing market has benefitted from the country’s robust economic growth and low unemployment rate, the report said.

During the third quarter of last year, Hungary's GDP rose 5% year-on-year, according to data released by the country’s Central Statistics Office in November. The country’s unemployment rate was down to 3.5%, while wages grew by double digits, according to data from the International Monetary Fund.

Overall, the global index rose a moderate 3.2%, the slowest pace of growth since the second quarter of 2015, the report said.

Among the 150 cities around the world tracked by Knight Frank, 78% saw positive price growth in the third quarter of last year. China’s second-tier cities, Xi’an and Wuhan, finished second and third on Knight Frank’s rankings, with home prices in the two cities increasing 15.9% and 14.9%, respectively.

The Russian cities of St. Petersburg and Moscow, also saw strong price growth in the third quarter, according to the report. With an annual appreciation of 14.2%, St. Petersburg landed fifth on the list, while the capital city, Moscow, ranked 11th with a 10% price increase.

In the U.S., the fastest-growing city was Phoenix, Arizona, where home prices appreciated 6% in the third quarter of 2019. Other cities, including New York (0.8%), Los Angeles (1.7%), Chicago (0.7%) and Miami (3.1%), all saw a growth pace lower than the global average.

The worst-performing housing market was Jerusalem, Israel, which saw prices fall 13.6% year-over-year.

Other major cities that registered a significant price depreciation include Dubai (-7.3%) and Abu Dhabi (7.7%) of the United Arab Emirates; Vancouver, Canada (-7.1%); and Sydney, Australia (-4.6%).

Housing prices in London, the U.K.’s capital, fell 0.4% in the third quarter of last year. San Francisco and Hong Kong were also in negative territory, with prices declining 0.7% and 1.4%, respectively, according to the report.

https://www.mansionglobal.com/articles/budapest-ranked-fastest-growing-housing-market-globally-211083