A number of Asian cities are among the strongest-growing places for prime residential property prices - with the notable exception of Singapore. But Vancouver in Canada saw the quickest growth in the third quarter.

Vancouver heads the rankings for having clocked up the sharpest year-to-date rise in prime residential prices, with prices surging 20.4 per cent in the year to September. Australia’s Sydney comes in second place, at 13.7 per cent for the year to September, according to Knight Frank, the property firm.

Shanghai (10.7 per cent), Jakarta (9.4 per cent) and Melbourne (9.4 per cent) come in the third, fourth and fifth spots respectively, representing a strong out-turn for the Asia/Australasia region. However, on the other side of the ledger, Singapore – where policymakers have acted to cool the market - ranks lowest from the 34 jurisdictions measured, with prices in the year to September down by 7.9 per cent from a year before; Zurich is down 5.1 per cent.

London is up by 1.3 per cent and New York is up 2.0 per cent. Hong Kong is up by 1.7 per cent, according to the Prime Global Cities Index.

In its commentary, Knight Frank said of Vancouver: “Supply is tight with the number of homes for sale down 32 per cent year-on-year and local demand is strengthening alongside foreign interest.

“The weak Australian dollar, an undersupply of new homes and a strong local economy are behind Sydney’s accelerating prices, whilst in Shanghai the reversal of strict housing policies, and the introduction of new fiscal measures, including tax and interest rate cuts, has fuelled demand. Looking beyond the top rankings, the overall performance of the index is less robust. The index now stands 34.1 per cent above its low in Q1 2009 but its annual rate of growth has slowed significantly from 7 per cent two years ago to 1.9 per cent,” it continued.

The report noted that about three quarters (73 per cent) of the cities measured logged positive annual price growth in the year to September, but that proportion has declined from two years ago when this figure was closer to 91 per cent.

“Analysis by world region shows Australasia leads, with average annual price growth of 11.6 per cent, followed by North America at 8.5 per cent. Europe, at up 0.8 per cent is now in positive territory but performance varies, from 9.4 per cent in Monaco to -5.1 per cent in Zurich,” it said.

“As QE unwinds and a US rate rise draws near, prime assets will remain on the radar of investors and HNW individuals. The big question mark surrounds not Greece and the eurozone but the slowdown in the Chinese economy. Wealth from China will continue to flow into overseas property markets with the UK, US, Canada and Australia being key target destinations,” it said.

In terms of its methodology, Knight Frank said prime property corresponds to the top 5 per cent of the wider housing market in each city. The index is compiled on a quarterly basis using data from Knight Frank’s network of global offices and research teams.