Australian house prices grew faster than anywhere else in the world in 2021, according to new data from Knight Frank.

Its Global House Price Index shows that house prices across the world increased at their fastest rate in almost 18 years, up by an average of 10.3% in 2021.

Australia had the highest rate of real annual price growth, with an average 17.5% growth. The report on 56 international housing markets tracks unadjusted values as well as “real” values with inflation accounted for in local currencies.

The top five countries for price growth in 2021 were; Australia, Turkey, New Zealand, Czech Republic and Slovakia.

Only Malaysia, Malta and Morocco experienced a decline in nominal house prices in 2021. “The 10 markets that have witnessed the strongest increase in house prices since the start of the pandemic are largely developed markets where governments stepped in to support economies, and in some cases, housing markets via mortgage holidays or subsidy programs,” it says.