Australia’s smaller capital cities of Perth and Brisbane are leading southern capitals for growth in their luxury property markets.

There are four Australian capital cities named in Knight Frank’s Prime Global Cities Index (PGCI) Q1 2025. Perth is in 16th position with price growth in the luxury market of 3.8% in the 12 months to March, Brisbane comes in at 18th spot with growth of 2.8% The two capital beat out Sydney (36th spot with values down 0.7%) and Melbourne (40th spot with values down 2.1%).

The list tracks the changes in prime residential prices across 44 cities worldwide, with Seoul in Korea the top performer with growth of 18.4%. Associate director at Knight Frank’s Australian partner McGrath Estate Agents, Adam Ross, says there is likely to be ongoing sustainable price growth of prestige homes across most cities for the remainder of 2025, particularly with heightened expat activity as they benefit from the currency exchange. The report says limited supply is sustaining price growth.