As India's housing market shines, New Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru are making significant strides on the global stage, according to Knight Frank’s Prime Global Cities Index Q4 2024. Among the three, New Delhi has seen a significant 6.7% growth in the past year, driven primarily by affluent homebuyers looking for a lifestyle upgrade in the backdrop of a strong economic environment.

Knight Frank's recent report, Prime Global Cities Index Q4 2024, shows that the city jumped from 16th place in Q4 2023 to 6th place in Q3 2024. The report also noted that Mumbai, New Delhi, and Bengaluru recorded increases in their average annual prices of prime residential or luxury homes in Q4 2024.

Mumbai prime residential prices also grew by a strong 6.1% year-on-year (YoY) in Q4 2024, securing 7th spot in the overall rankings. Bengaluru observed an impressive jump from 27th rank in Q4 2023, to 13th in Q4 2024, and recorded a 4.1% annual increase in prices.

The rise in the global prime residential price index was recorded at 3.2% across the 44 markets in the 12 months ending December 2024. A total of 34 out of 44 cities reported positive on the prime global residential index in the period.

Shishir Baijal, Chairman and MD of Knight Frank India, says the strong growth in prime prices reflects the surge in demand seen in this residential segment across Indian markets. With homebuyers increasingly prioritizing lifestyle upgrades, bolstered by the nation's stable economic outlook and positive market sentiment, this segment should likely see price levels continue to elevate in the near term,” says Baijal.

Seoul claims the top spot in the ranking with an 18.4% annual rise in prices. The city’s luxury market demonstrated remarkable resilience despite political uncertainty. Manila with 17.9% YoY growth ranks 2nd in the index.

Apart from Seoul, Manila, Dubai, Toyko, and Nairobi stand in the top five in the Knight Frank Prime Global Cities Index Q4 2024, with New Delhi and Mumbai in the 6th and 7th place, respectively. Other cities in the top 15 are: Madrid (rank 8), Perth (9), Lisbon (10), Bengaluru (13), Zurich (14) and Dublin (15).

The Prime Global Cities Index is a valuation-based index tracking the movement of prime residential prices across 44 cities worldwide. The index tracks nominal prices in local currency.

Liam Bailey, Knight Frank's Global Head of Research says the path to lower rates has become more complex over recent months as developed economy inflation refuses to fall as policymakers would like. "However, with most commentators expecting further cuts in 2025 this will be the factor that will unlock higher house price growth this year,” says Bailey.

Overall, the world’s luxury housing markets ticked up in the final quarter of 2024, posting an average annual price growth of 3.2%. This marks the strongest performance since Q1 2024 when the index recorded 4.1% annual growth across our basket of 44 global cities.