The Savills World Class Index, which covers premier residential property locations around the world, has revealed that a gap is opening up between the "old world" and "new world" economies. According to the survey, the economies of London, Tokyo, Sydney, Paris and New York - in the "old" class - have grown by 32 per cent since 2005. Compare that to the "new" locations - Shanghai, Singapore, Moscow, Hong Kong and Mumbai - where 123 per cent growth was recorded over the same period.
Yolande Barnes, head of Savills research, commented: "It becomes apparent that the debt-induced crisis of 2008 was suffered most by the 'old world' cities and not the 'new world' ones. The biggest 'old world' value rebounds have been experienced in the cities most open to 'new world' investment, notably London and Paris." The company also pointed out that due to the low growth in property prices in locations some of the established economies - particularly Sydney and New York - real estate in these places now represents good value.
The recently released Knight Frank Prime Global Cities Index for the second quarter of the year put Hong Kong firmly at the top of the table for growth in real estate values, with St Petersburg, Paris, Beijing and London completing the top five.