If you are among those who dream about owning a luxury house but could not buy one due to high prices, then here is good news for you! According to a report, luxury residential markets across the world are likely to be hit due to COVID-19 outbreak with prices set to drop in most of the major cities including Mumbai which may see a decline of 5 per cent this year. As per property consultant Knight Frank, luxury housing prices may drop in 16 of 20 major cities globally and 5% in Mumbai in 2020.
 
In its 'Prime Global Residential Forecast' report, Knight Frank said that as many as 16 cities out of 20 major markets globally could witness decline in housing prices. "Prime residential market of Mumbai is expected to see a price fall of 5 per cent in the year 2020. For the year 2021, Mumbai's prime residential market is expected to witness a price decline of 3 per cent," the consultant said in a statement.
 
Prices will fall in a range of 0-5 per cent across Berlin, Cape Town, Geneva, London, Los Angeles, Madrid, Melbourne, Miami, New York, Paris and Sydney. The rates will fall by 5 per cent across Buenos Aires, Mumbai, Hong Kong, Singapore and Vancouver. Lisbon, Monaco, Vienna and Shanghai are the only four global prime residential markets set to see price growth.
 
"There were positive signs in several markets globally that prime prices would rise throughout 2020 but unsurprisingly COVID-19 has put a halt to that," said Liam Bailey, global head of research at Knight Frank. 
 
Knight Frank India Chairman and Managing Director Shishir Baijal said the impact of COVID- 19 is far reaching for most global markets which is reflected in the outlook for the prime residential segments. "India's key markets will also be faced with the uncertainty mostly due to a significant erosion of confidence amongst buyers across spectrum," he added.