When it comes to luxury homes, Dubai is still the place to beat.

According to Knight Frank, the price of Dubai luxury homes shot up by almost 50%. This is from the start of the year until June. The surge in price means the city still holds the top rank for eight consecutive quarters.

The property consultancy company reported that Dubai luxury home prices swelled by 225%. It’s a remarkable achievement after plummeting at the height of the pandemic in 2020.

Tokyo stands proud in second place. The popular Japanese city saw a 26.2% annual rise. Manila comes in third place, with a 19.9% increase.

Shanghai and Singapore also had a remarkable recovery. The two cities saw an increase of 6.7% and 4.2%.

The report took note of the flood of expatriates to Singapore. It had a large impact on the city-state’s rental market. It’s more robust compared to its sales market. The influx is reportedly due to a thriving professional and financial services sector.

The discrepancy between the rental and sales market could also be due to a tax levy. Foreigners buying residential property in the Lion City have to pay an extra 60% stamp duty. It’s double the previous rate of 30%. The increase has been effective since the end of April.

It’s a different scenario in Hong Kong. Luxury home prices dropped 1.5% this past year. It’s the offshoot of realty projects with large unsold inventory. The Hong Kong government has already taken steps to drum up interest and increase demand. It’s doing this by raising the mortgage loan-to-value ratio to 70%. This is for residential properties valued at 15 million Hong Kong dollars ($1.9 million) or less.

Analysts from Knight Frank said the move will become lauded by buyers. But they’re uncertain if the plan will provide a significant boost to the market.

Luxury housing demand also experienced slumps in New York and San Francisco. The Big Apple saw a drop of 3.9% while San Francisco’s rate plummeted 11.1%. Frankfurt in Germany suffered the most with a decline of 15.1%.

Liam Bailey of Knight Frank said the global housing markets continue to feel the heat. It’s the norm when there’s a shift to higher interest rates. But the Global Head of Research said he looks at the report as an affirmation. It’s proof that prices are now bolstered by a robust primary demand. It also highlighted a weak supply. This is not a surprise as the pandemic disrupted building projects.

Bailey added that the price adjustments in most markets will be less pronounced. This will come about as unpredictable inflation appears to be slowing down.