The prime residential market Dubai is expected to see modest growth of one per cent in 2018, according to leading real estate industry expert Knight Frank.

In a new research note, Knight Frank pointed out that Dubai is expected to see a return to growth in 2018, after weaker performance during the recent market cycle.

Government investment in the economy and infrastructure ahead of Expo 2020 are helping to attract more employment, driving demand higher, it said.

The 2018 forecast report, which covered 13 cities, said Paris, a market that has struggled to see strong price growth in recent years, is benefiting from the improved economic outlook for the Eurozone.

The French capital is also back on the radar of global investors, in particular, those from the US, the Middle East, and Europe, and expects to see healthy price growth next year, perhaps up to 9 per cent.

According to forecasts, Singapore (five per cent) and Geneva (three per cent) could prove 2018’s most improved markets. Singapore’s luxury residential market, in the doldrums for several years, is expected to shift up a gear in 2018 as market sentiment improves.

Geneva, off-limits for non-resident buyers, offers safety, privacy and unrivalled schools putting it high on the list of wealthy families looking to relocate.

Hong Kong, with ongoing demand from mainland China is likely to post the strongest growth of major Asian urban markets during 2018 with a seven per cent rise by the year-end.

In central London, Knight Frank expects prime prices to rise marginally by 0.5 per cent in 2018, with cumulative price growth over the next five years reaching 13.1 per cent. While London’s fortunes will continue to be buffeted by taxation and the outlook for the pound, Brexit – and its impact on employment will be the overriding issue to watch.

In North America, Los Angeles is likely to see a continuation of growth (three per cent next year) reflective of a supply and demand imbalance. The prime markets in both New York and Miami are still seeing the impact of higher inventory volume and are likely to replicate London’s largely flat price performance in 2018.

Vancouver is the only city which is expected to see prime residential prices to soften in 2018 but even here the decline is marginal at 2.5 per cent. The introduction of a foreign buyer tax in 2016 along with tighter capital controls in China have influenced demand. - TradeArabia News Service