Durrani said it’s unlikely the growth of 2021 will be repeated this year, but with such limited prime stock, the top end of the market still has room for growth in 2022.

Knight Frank’s Prime International Residential Index 100 (PIRI 100) analyses prime price performance in 100 cities and second home markets worldwide.

Andrew Cummings, partner and head of Prime Residential at Knight Frank Middle East, said Dubai’s status at the top of the Prime Price Index is not a surprise.

“In the post-Covid landscape, ultra-high net worth buyers have descended on Dubai in very large numbers and whilst their initial visits have been fuelled by the UAE’s handling of the pandemic, their decision to purchase property in the Emirate has been fuelled by something entirely different. Dubai’s investments in world-class infrastructure, health and education, coupled with the exceptional lifestyle and amenities, from the world’s best restaurants and hotels have helped transform the city into a destination that people want to own a property in,” he said.

“To add to this, at the top end of the market, quality is now the watchword with developers building super-prime properties to cater to the demands of the global elite, who over the last year have shown themselves eager to own a home in Dubai,” Cummings added.

Moscow came in second with a price increase of 42 percent. The rest of the top five are San Diego, Miami, and The Hamptons.

Only seven of the 100 luxury marketplaces studied showed price declines in 2021, while 35% of them saw price increases of 10% or more, demonstrating the strength of the sellers’ market during the pandemic.

Overall, the Americas were the best-performing area, with six of the top 10 rankings and an average growth rate of about 13%. Although the Asia-Pacific region (7.5%) outperformed the EMEA region (7.2%), Australasia (+12.3%) was largely responsible. Asia was the only region to see a moderate increase of 5.5 percent.

All price changes are in local currency: