Despite stellar performances by four cities in the latest (Q1 2016) Prime Global Cities Index by Knight Frank, the overall narrative is one of more moderate growth.

Kate Everett-Allen at Knight Frank says: “Vancouver leads our rankings for the fourth consecutive quarter with prime prices in the city increasing by 26% in the year to March 2016. A severe lack of supply is creating an upward pressure on prices. There is little evidence that February’s increase in land transfer tax, from 2% to 3%, on all purchases above C$2m (£1.068m), has dented sale volumes.

“Along with Vancouver, three other cities; Shanghai, Sydney and Melbourne also recorded double-digit annual price growth, but the gap between this top tier and the remaining cities has widened.

“Record-low interest rates and cheap finance fuelled demand in Shanghai leading to price growth of 20% year-on-year, however, in March the government tightened mortgage lending rules which is likely to result in slower growth in the second quarter.

“Prime prices across the 35 cities increased on average by 3.6% in the 12 months to March 2016. The index entered a period of steady growth in 2014, consistently recording annual growth of 3-4% in the subsequent seven quarters.”