The luxury rental market continues to rise across global cities. In response, real estate consultancy Savills conducted a study analysing the cost of the most exclusive rentals in major cities. It revealed that Dubai, Bangkok, and Lisbon saw the sharpest increases in luxury rent prices during the first half of the year.
The report, titled the "Prime Residential World Cities Index", indicates an overall growth of 2.2% in the luxury rental market over this period, with significantly higher increases in the top three cities: Dubai (12.1%), Bangkok (9%), and Lisbon (7.5%).
Alexandra Gomes, Head of Research at Savills Portugal, notes that "the increase in prime rent in Lisbon reflects growing demand, primarily from foreigners." She also highlighted the "shortage of high-end rental properties on the market," adding that "Lisbon’s growing international profile, driven by its quality of life, suggests that prime rents will keep increasing."
Echoing Gomes, Savills World Research Associate Director Kelcie Sellers noted that "Dubai and Lisbon have consistently led in prime rental market growth due to high demand for quality properties". She also pointed out Bangkok, where "demand for luxury rentals has surged post-pandemic".
Athens stands out with a 4.6% increase, ranking fourth and significantly surpassing other cities, all of which have growth rates below four percentage points, except for Los Angeles and San Francisco, where the half-yearly increase was 4%.
Luxury sector in Spain
Two Spanish cities are featured in the Savills ranking. Barcelona is in seventh place, with luxury rentals rising nearly 4% in the first six months of the year, while Madrid holds 12th place, showing an increase of over 2%.
Asian market decline
Luxury rental prices dropped the most in Singapore in the first half of the year, with a decline of 4.5%. Additionally, Chinese cities Hangzhou, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, and Shanghai all saw decreases in prime rents, though the drops were less than 1.5%.
It is also noteworthy that, despite not being in the Asian market, the only two cities where luxury rental prices have remained unchanged are Sydney (Australia) and Geneva (Switzerland).