For the first time since 2008, Mumbai housing prices fall

Mumbai: Residential property prices in Mumbai declined 9.1 percent last fiscal, recording the first price fall since the 2008 crisis, according to a survey by consultancy firm Knight Frank. The survey, titled `Knight Frank Prime Global Cities Index Q1 of 2012', said that property prices of global prime cities reported a 1.4 percent growth during the period, compared to April 2010-March 2011.

On year-on-year basis, the prices of properties in prime global cities in the first quarter of 2012 fell 0.4 percent. "This represents the index's first quarterly fall since the depths of the global recession. Although a milestone, the index's negative quarterly growth is not surprising. Quarterly price growth has been below 2 percent since Q1 of 2010 and it averaged only 0.6 percent in 2011," Knight Frank Asia-Pacific research director Nicholas Holt said in the report.

Despite the overall index's sluggish performance, four markets -- Nairobi, Jakarta, Miami and London -- achieved double-digit growth during the period. "Prices not only held up but actually increased slightly at the very top end of the Singapore market in Q1 of 2012. This was not only due to fairly resilient domestic demand, but also due to wealthy Chinese, Indonesian and Indian buyers."

Residential property prices declined 9.1 percent last fiscal, recording the first price fall since the 2008 crisis.

It seems unlikely that "we are on the cusp of a new deflationary cycle in luxury global house prices", he said. "The safe-haven argument still resonates. Capital flight will continue to focus on cities with low political risk, transparent legal systems, good security and ideally those with a high networth individual-friendly tax regime," Holt added.

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