Vancouver leads on prime property for now, Toronto gains

A ranking of global prime property sees Vancouver maintain its leading position but the new tax on foreign investors may change that.

Knight Frank’s Prime Global Cities Index compares the performance of the top 5 per cent of the wider housing market in each city using the firm’s quarterly data.

While Vancouver has led the pack for 5 consecutive quarters now, the firm says that the 15 per cent tax introduced on international buyers this month is expected to slow the city’s pace.

Toronto is a new addition to the index and has seen double-digit gains in prices in the last year and is fourth in the list of price gains behind Vancouver, Shanghai and Cape Town.

Overall, the index increased 4.4 per cent in the year to June 2016, its highest rise in 2 years. Vancouver saw the largest price inflation (36 per cent) but Australasia is the top region with an 11 per cent growth compared to North America’s 10 per cent.
 

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