Dubai property prices didn’t register a 22 per cent increase in 2013, actually, they rose by almost 35 per cent, reveals a new report.

In its latest (Q4 2013) Global House Price Index report, the UK-based consultancy said prices jumped by 34.8 per cent during the 12-month period (Q4 2012 to Q4 2013), adding, mainstream prices still remained 25 per cent below their 2008 peak.

“Dubai recorded the largest annual rise in mainstream property prices with prices rising 15.3 per cent in the six-month period (Q2 to Q4 2013),” the report said.

In February, JLL, a real estate consultancy, said prices were 15 per cent below the 2008 peak and could reach the peak in coming 10 to 18 months.
“In some location we are witnessing that prices have reached the 2008 level, but overall we see that prices will reach that level in the next 10 to 18 months,” Craig Plumb, Head of Research, JLL Mena, had said.

In the past, Citibank, Standard Chartered and Goldman Sach Group have said that Dubai’s property market growth was sustainable and there were no fears of a property crash.

China records 28% rise

Coming second and third on the Knight Frank price index were China and Taiwan, recording annual rises of 28 per cent and 15 per cent, respectively. Estonia and Turkey make it to the top five with a 14.5 per cent and 13.8 per cent price increase respectively.

Thirty-nine countries of the 56 on the index recorded positive annual price growth last year compared to only 27 countries in 2012.

Several emerging markets, despite their economic wobble in 2013, recorded a strong performance. Turkey, Brazil, Indonesia and Colombia are ranked in the top ten in terms of annual price growth, each having recorded double digit growth.

The index rose by 8.4 per cent in 2013 and by 1.2 per cent in the final quarter

Knight Frank said that the headline global index was now weighted according to each country’s GDP, which means that the movement of house prices in the US and China will have a greater bearing on the index’s performance than that of locations such as Malta or Jersey.

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