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In a ranking 25 of the world’s top luxury real estate markets, Dubai topped the list, with prices expected to increase 13.5% in 2023, according to Knight Frank.
Seoul and London are expected to be the worst performers.
Even the strongest luxury markets are expected to cool next year, as interest rates rise and economies slow.

Residential villas on the waterside of the Palm Jumeirah in Dubai on Feb. 24, 2022. Russians were always among the top 10 nationalities investing in Dubai property, according to Tahir Majithia, managing partner at Dubai-based Prime Capital real estate.
Christopher Pike/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Wealthy investors betting on luxury real estate would do best by putting their money in Dubai or Miami next year, according to a new report.
In a ranking 25 of the world’s top luxury, or “prime,” real estate markets, Dubai topped the list, with prices expected to increase 13.5% in 2023, according to real estate consultancy Knight Frank. Miami ranked second, with prices expected to increase 5%. Dublin, Lisbon and Los Angeles followed, with 4% expected increases.

The worst performers next year are expected to be Seoul and London, with prices expected to drop 3% for both. New York ranked in the middle of the pack, at 13, with prices expected to increase 2% next year.
Still, even the strongest luxury markets are expected to cool next year, as interest rates rise and economies slow down, according to Knight Frank. Across the 25 cities, Knight Frank expects prices to rise by an average of 2% in 2023, revised down from the 2.7% Knight Frank projected six months ago.
The revision suggests that the global wealthy, seemingly immune from inflation and economic slowdowns, are holding off on big real-estate purchases or becoming more discerning on price given rising interest rates.
“Although prime markets are more insulated to the fallout from higher mortgage costs, they’re not immune,” the report said. “The transition from a seller’s to a buyer’s market is already underway across most prime residential markets.”
Dubai saw prices soar by 50% in 2022, so the price increases for 2023 mark a substantial slowdown. Dubai has seen a surge in wealthy residents over the past year, driven largely by Russians looking for a safe harbor for their wealth, yachts and real estate amidst Western sanctions over the war in Ukraine.

Prices for Dubai single family homes rose 13% in October, while overall sales volume jumped 73% over the previous year.
Miami also remains a popular haven for the wealthy, given its low tax rates and growing number of financial firms locating their headquarters or offices in South Florida.
Although New York’s expected 2% increase next year is down from 2022, many brokers forecast declining prices next year, especially in Manhattan. Knight Frank said New York will benefit from overseas buyers who are “seeking more, rather than less, exposure to the U.S. dollar as the Federal Reserve ramps up rates.”
Singapore is the only Asian city in the top 10 and one of only four cities whose forecast has climbed in the past six months, according to the report. Singapore is benefitting from wealth flight from China, as rich Chinese citizens move their money – and often their families – to the island to avoid strict Covid lockdowns and a slowing economy.
Cash will be king across the 25 markets, as buyers willing to pay all-cash will be more attractive to sellers, Knight Frank said. Political and economic volatility in many countries will also lead to a flight to safety in real estate, “pushing buyers to mature and transparent luxury markets.”

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The CEO of Italian power firm Enel told CNBC Tuesday that turbulence in energy markets was likely to persist for some time.
“The turbulence we’re going to have will remain — it might change a little bit, the pattern, but we’re looking at one or two years of extreme volatility in the energy markets,” Francesco Starace tells CNBC.
Starace’s comments come at a time of uncertainty for the energy sector following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in Feb. 2022.

This image, from March 2022, shows wind turbines and gas storage facilities in Germany. Europe’s energy markets have experienced turbulence in recent months.
Jan Woitas | Picture Alliance | Getty Images

The CEO of Italian power firm Enel told CNBC Tuesday that turbulence in energy markets was likely to persist for some time.
“Things are extremely turbulent, as they have been the whole year, I would say,” Francesco Starace said.

“The turbulence we’re going to have will remain — it might change a little bit, the pattern, but we’re looking at one or two years of extreme volatility in the energy markets,” he added.
Starace’s comments, made on the sidelines of Goldman Sachs’ Carbonomics conference in London, come at a time of uncertainty for the energy sector following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in Feb. 2022.
Russia was the biggest supplier of both natural gas and petroleum oils to the EU in 2021, but gas exports from Russia to the European Union have slid this year.
“Despite available production and transport capacity, Russia has reduced its gas supplies to the European Union by close to 50% y-o-y since the start of 2022,” the International Energy Agency said in its Gas Market Report last month.
“In the current context, the complete shutdown of Russian pipeline gas supplies to the European Union cannot be excluded ahead of the 2022/23 heating season — when the European gas market is at its most vulnerable.”

Read more about energy from CNBC Pro

Given this fall in Russian imports, major European economies have been attempting to shore up supplies for the colder months ahead. According to data from industry group Gas Infrastructure Europe, the EU’s gas storage is estimated to be 93.9% full.
During his interview with CNBC, Enel’s Starace painted a mixed picture when it came to gas storage.  
“I think we will get through the winter because of all the storage we were able to fill in, and then we’ll find out that we’ll have to refill the storage for next winter … without Russian gas,” he told Steve Sedgwick.
“Let’s not forget we had it in ’22 — less and less — but we had it,” Starace said, adding that a huge amount of work was needed in the coming months. “Too many things need to happen so that next winter is safe.”
He said Europe needed to save gas “every time we can, consume less of it, get rid of those uses of gas that make no sense and leave it for the industry that needs it.”
This was the “big fight that we have to really focus on during ’23,” he added.

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Iberdrola CEO Ignacio Galan said he broadly agreed with Starace, adding that he expects the volatility in oil and gas markets to continue over the next few months.
“But I think what we need … is to accelerate, as much as we can, the construction of infrastructures in electricity,” Galan told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe,” referencing both renewables and interconnections. “I think we are far from what is needed.”
He went on to stress the importance of reducing reliance on third countries and third parties in favor of boosting self-sufficiency within Europe.
“The only way for that … is to accelerate our investment in more renewables, in more interconnections, in more digital grids,” Galan added. More

China said 65.8% of people over age 80 have received booster shots, up from 40% as of Nov. 11.
Health authorities also announced a new push to get its elderly population further vaccinated against Covid-19.
When asked in English whether China was reconsidering its Covid policy after the protests, an official simply said they have been monitoring the virus’ development, without further elaboration.

BEIJING — Mainland China announced significant progress Tuesday in getting Covid-19 booster shots for people “over age 80.”
As of Monday, 65.8% of that age category had received booster shots, an official told reporters.

That’s up from 40% as of Nov. 11, according to prior disclosures.
China also announced a new push to get its elderly population further vaccinated for Covid-19.
An official said at a press conference that vaccination is still effective in preventing severe illness and death, and that the elderly are among the biggest beneficiaries.
The document did not provide specific details on how authorities would go about vaccinating more people.
Analysts have said that getting a greater share of the population vaccinated would help put China on the path to reopening. Only China-made vaccines are locally available so far.

The Covid vaccination rate for older people in China is generally below that of the U.S. and Singapore.

Tuesday’s announcement and press conference followed a weekend of unrest as pockets of people in cities across China vented their frustration with Covid policy. Local officials had tightened measures in some areas, in contrast with signals from Beijing earlier in the month that suggested China was on its way toward reopening.
The weekend demonstrations weighed on market sentiment in Asia on Monday. There were no indications of subsequent protests amid heightened security.
Mainland China’s latest Covid controls have negatively affected 25.1% of national GDP as of Monday, according to a Nomura model. That’s above the prior peak of 21.2% recorded in April during the lockdown in Shanghai.
When asked in English whether China was reconsidering its Covid policy after the protests, an official simply said they have been monitoring the virus’ development, without further elaboration.
The country reported for Monday the first drop in daily local infections in more than a week.

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Mainland China reported the first decline in daily Covid infections in more than a week on Monday.
There was no indication of new protests, after public demonstrations over the weekend.
Stringent Covid controls this year have weighed heavily on business activity and economic growth in China.

China’s capital city of Beijing is one of the hardest hit in the latest Covid wave. Pictured here is a health worker outside a locked down apartment complex on Nov. 27, 2022.
Kevin Frayer | Getty Images News | Getty Images

BEIJING — Mainland China reported the first decline in daily Covid infections in more than a week on Monday.
The country said local infections, mostly asymptomatic, totaled 38,421, down from a record high of 40,052 reported for Sunday, according to CNBC calculations of Wind Information data.

The last time the daily case count fell from the prior day was on Nov. 19, the data showed.
Local infections fell in Guangdong and Chongqing, two of the hardest-hit regions in the latest Covid wave. No new deaths were reported.
But the capital city of Beijing saw infections rise Monday from a day earlier, as did Shanghai, albeit at a far smaller scale. Shanghai Disneyland said it would suspend operations from Tuesday, after briefly reopening Friday. Universal Beijing Resort remains open.
There was no indication of new protests on Monday. Over the weekend, students and groups of people across China held public demonstrations to protest the country’s stringent zero-Covid policy.

Security has tightened in areas where protesters had gathered in Beijing and Shanghai, according to social media. Some social media reports said police were checking locals’ phones in Shanghai for foreign apps that can’t be accessed in the mainland without a VPN.

China’s official nightly news broadcast Monday did not mention the unrest, but included a segment calling for unity around the current Covid measures. The broadcast also emphasized how the government was maintaining health services and delivery of daily necessities to people in lockdown.
The purpose of the measures is to minimize Covid’s impact on the economy and society, claimed an op-ed Tuesday in People’s Daily, the Chinese Communist Party’s official newspaper. The article firmly ruled out the idea of relaxing controls.

Stringent Covid controls this year have weighed heavily on business activity and economic growth in China. As of the third quarter, national GDP had grown by 3% year-on-year, far below the official target of around 5.5% set in March.
As of Monday, 25.1% of China’s GDP was negatively affected by Covid controls, according to a Nomura model. That’s above the prior peak of 21.2% recorded in April during the lockdown in Shanghai.
“The rapid increase in public discontent over the lockdowns over the past weekend may further cloud the road to reopening,” Nomura analysts said.

Policy tweaks loosen and tighten

Read more about China from CNBC Pro

Municipal authorities subsequently banned using hard materials to block fire exits, apartment building doors and compound entrances, and noted that short-term lockdowns should not exceed 24 hours.
They also said channels for going out to get medical treatment should remain unimpeded. Previously, anecdotes on social media described how people were denied access to medical care due to supposed Covid controls.
Covid measures and their implementation have varied locally, especially given the scattered nature of outbreaks.
Starting Tuesday, the city of Shanghai tightened restrictions on entering restaurants, shopping malls and other commercial venues. Anyone wanting to enter must now present a negative virus test from within the last 48 hours, down from 72 hours.
And in the wake of the protests, at least Tsinghua University has encouraged students to return home early for the Lunar New Year winter break — more than a month ahead of time.
— CNBC’s Eunice Yoon contributed to this report.
Disclosure: Comcast is the owner of NBCUniversal, parent company of CNBC.

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I thought I managed to beat the tourist crowds on my recent trip to Japan.
On my first night in Osaka, I managed to get a picture with the famed Glico sign without anyone else in the background.

Arrows pointing outwards

Days later, CNBC’s Abigail Ng saw multiple groups of people flocking to this spot to pose for pictures. — Courtesy of Chen Meihui

But perhaps I should’ve chalked it up to the fact that it was a Monday night.
I wasn’t so lucky later that week: It was next to impossible to get a picture at the top of the forest in Kyoto’s Arashiyama Bamboo Grove — about an hour away from Osaka — without being photo-bombed.
And my journey to a Kyoto Buddhist temple, Kiyomizu-dera, was no different — I got off a packed bus only to encounter a human traffic jam in the street leading to my destination.

Visitors gather on a terrace near the Kiyomizu-dera to watch the sunset and autumn leaves in Kyoto, Japan.
Courtesy of Abigail Ng

On another day, at Comcast’s Universal Studios Japan, there were long queues for food stands selling seasonal or themed specials throughout the park. For one major roller coaster, The Flying Dinosaur, I waited around 70 minutes in the single-rider queue — which typically has shorter waiting times than the regular one.

Local and foreign tourists

My experience came as no surprise to Wanping Aw, CEO of the Tokyo-based travel agency Tokudaw.

She said queues may be longer because of staffing issues, and the crowds were likely a mix of local and foreign tourists. The former group is taking advantage of discounts from the government, doled out to encourage local tourism.
“Because of the domestic campaign, everyone is going to Mount Fuji or Hakone on the weekend,” leading to traveling time almost doubling, she said.
“On Saturdays and Sundays … it feels as if the entire Japan, like the local Japanese people, are going to Disneyland, like there’s a very big traffic jam on the expressway leading into Disneyland,” she added.

Wanping Aw said it can take three to four hours to reach Mount Fuji from Tokyo on weekends because of traffic jams. The journey usually takes around two hours, she said.
David Mareuil | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images

As for international visitors, many came rushing back once authorities announced the resumption of visa exemptions and individual, independent travel.
At Ichiran, a ramen chain popular with foreign tourists, I waited 40 minutes for a seat despite arriving at around 11 a.m. Several would-be customers left after hearing the estimated waiting time.
Japan first reopened its borders in June, but only to tourists on chaperoned package tours, and visas were required. In the months before those rules were lifted on Oct. 11, there were fewer traffic jams and queues, said Aw.
“I think my customers, they enjoyed Japan more,” she said.
“From June to maybe end-October, like everyone was very happy,” Aw added.

How strong is demand?

In October, the month when nearly all restrictions were removed, Japan recorded 498,600 visitors — more than double the 206,500 arrivals in September, according to preliminary data from the Japan National Tourism Organization.
For the upcoming winter season, Club Med’s resorts in Hokkaido will be running at close to full occupancy, according to Rachael Harding, the company’s CEO of East, South Asia and Pacific markets.
Online bookings to Japan jumped by 79% within a week after authorities announced the easing of measures, she told CNBC Travel in an email.
Tokudaw’s Aw said bookings with her company remain strong for the year-end period, at around 85% of pre-Covid levels. She observed an “abrupt drop” in January bookings, followed by an uptick in April, when cherry blossoms bloom.
H.I.S. Travel, however, told CNBC Travel that its customers from Singapore have made bookings all the way through to April.
When asked if demand softens in the new year after the school holidays in Singapore end, Fritz Ho of H.I.S. said: “In fact, no. In fact, I would say the inquiries [are] picking up.”
He said working adults and friend or family groups are also traveling around the Lunar New Year holiday in January 2023.

Singaporeans love Japanese food, and that’s one of the reasons why they’re returning to Japan, said Fritz Ho of H.I.S. International Travel.
Calvin Chan Wai Meng | Moment | Getty Images

Ho, the manager for meetings, incentive, conventions and exhibitions, estimated that demand has reached 75% to 80% of 2019’s levels.
He cited the weak Japanese yen as one reason for the popularity of the destination, adding that customers are staying for more days than before and are willing to spend more.
The dollar is around 20% stronger against the yen compared with the start of the year.
Club Med’s Harding said the yen’s weakness makes Japan a “much more affordable holiday destination at the moment,” but that the country was popular even before the currency weakened.
“Japan has always been an extremely popular destination whether it be for its pristine ski conditions, architecture, art, traditions, food  or fascinating pop culture,” she said.
Both Ho and Aw also said Japan’s high hospitality standards were attractive to visitors.

China: the missing piece

To be clear, despite the recovery in tourism, October’s arrivals are still only a fraction of the more than 2 million people per month in 2019, before the Covid pandemic hit.
Chinese tourists, who still need to quarantine when they return from overseas, remain the missing piece of the puzzle.
In October 2019, more than 730,000 visitors from China made up nearly 30% of arrivals in Japan, national tourism data showed. That’s a far cry from the 21,500 Chinese tourists who made up 4.3% of October 2022’s visitors.
Analysts largely expect China to reopen between the second and third quarter of 2023, and Club Med’s Harding said tourists from the country are “definitely important for the local [Japanese] tourism and economy.”
Tokudaw’s Aw said she thinks the huge surge in arrivals could cause the understaffed tourism sector to “collapse.”
That said, she told CNBC Travel that there were Chinese-speaking staff on every level of a high-end hotel in Tokyo that she recently went to.
“Japan is really serious about Chinese money,” she said.
Disclosure: Comcast is the parent company of NBCUniversal and CNBC. More

Monday – Friday, 6:00 – 7:00 PM ET

CNBC’s Jim Cramer on Monday explained why he believes the Dow Jones Industrial Average will continue to outperform the Nasdaq Composite and S&P 500 next year.
“As we head into the end of the year, Wall Street tends to crowd into the biggest winners, which is why I expect the Dow to keep outperforming the Nasdaq and the S&P,” he said.

CNBC’s Jim Cramer on Monday explained why he believes the Dow Jones Industrial Average will continue to outperform the Nasdaq Composite and S&P 500 next year.
“As we head into the end of the year, Wall Street tends to crowd into the biggest winners, which is why I expect the Dow to keep outperforming the Nasdaq and the S&P, at least until January, possibly even a lot longer,” he said.

Here are the reasons he listed for the Dow’s standout performance:

The market seems to believe the Federal Reserve can pull off a soft landing, likely due to encouraging inflation data and minutes from the central bank’s latest meeting.
Classical cyclical stocks are not so cyclical anymore, especially as consumers continue splurging on travel. In addition, several cyclical companies in the Dow will likely benefit from the bipartisan infrastructure bill and CHIPS Act, said Cramer.
Supply chain problems that hindered Dow companies appear to be easing, if recent earnings reports are any indication.
The strong U.S. dollar has eased in recent weeks, taking pressure off Dow companies that have large international exposure.
Long-term interest rates are also declining, which has been a “major boon” for many dividend stocks in the Dow.

The Dow is down about 6.85% for the year, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq have declined 16.8% and 29.4%, respectively. 
Cramer explained that the overarching reason the blue-chip index has performed the best this year is because it’s full of old-fashioned, profitable companies that return cash to shareholders.
While the S&P 500 has suffered more since it has a mix of older companies and newer, speculative enterprises, the Nasdaq is filled with the latter and has declined the most as a result.
Cramer added that comparing how the major indexes performed this year and what drove their movements is critical when examining how stocks have fared this year. “I think this is the most important story of 2022,” he said.

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Monday – Friday, 6:00 – 7:00 PM ET

It’s that time again! “Mad Money” host Jim Cramer rings the lightning round bell, which means he’s giving his answers to callers’ stock questions at rapid speed.

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Rio Tinto PLC: “You need to see commodity inflation come back. I will say, it’s a great hedge against long-term inflation, though.”

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NIO Inc: “That one seems very dicey.”

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Enphase Energy: “It is doing so well, and every time it’s down $15, $20, I want to come on air and just say, ‘you know what you’ve got to do? [Buy].'”

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Lucid Group Inc: “Too speculative. … We are not recommending stocks that are losing money.”

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Disney CEO Bob Iger answered employee questions during a 45-minute town hall with employees.
Iger’s comments come on the heels of two major controversies centered on Disney’s handling of LGBTQ issues during Bob Chapek’s short time as head of the company.

Bob Iger poses with Mickey Mouse attends Mickey’s 90th Spectacular at The Shrine Auditorium on October 6, 2018 in Los Angeles.
Valerie Macon | AFP | Getty Images

Following criticism of its past handling of LGBTQ issues, Disney CEO Bob Iger on Monday told employees that inclusion and acceptance are among the “core values” of the company’s storytelling.
The remarks come after Disney had faced criticism under previous CEO Bob Chapek for its handling of Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill, which banned instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity in kindergarten through third grade. Disney’s recent inclusion of unambiguously gay characters in animated films has also drawn criticism from anti-LGBTQ activists.

“This company has been telling stories for 100 years, and those stories have had a meaningful, positive impact on the world, and one of the reasons they have had a meaningful, positive impact is because one of the core values of our storytelling is inclusion and acceptance and tolerance, and we can’t lose that,” Iger said Monday.

Iger also said that some subjects that have proven to be controversial shouldn’t be considered political.
“I don’t think when you are telling stories and attempting to be a good citizen of the world that that’s political,” he said according to sources who heard the event and asked to remain anonymous because it was not open to the public.
With the Florida bill, Chapek has said he had initially decided not to speak out on the measure because he wanted to work “behind the scenes” to engage with lawmakers. However, his silence led many opponents of the bill to believe Disney was being complacent.
When Chapek did later come out against the bill, his statements angered Florida lawmakers, including Gov. Ron DeSantis, leading the state to pass a bill that would dissolve Disney’s Reedy Creek Improvement District, which was established in 1967 so that the company could develop infrastructure and be primarily responsible for the cost of municipal services such as power, water and fire protection.

The retaliatory action, set to take effect in June 2023, means Disney will now have to go through the local counties for approval of construction projects such as hotels and theme park expansions. It also means the local counties would become responsible for all of the district’s municipal services and debt.
On Monday, Iger told employees that he is still getting up to speed on the upcoming dissolution Reedy Creek district.
“I was sorry to see us dragged into the that battle, and I have no idea exactly what its ramifications are,” he told employees.
Additionally, Iger addressed the company’s previously announced plans to relocate more than 2,000 jobs from California to Florida, noting that the move has been delayed until 2026 and that the company is still finalizing details about which jobs will be transferred. He said that he isn’t reversing the decision to move these jobs, but is looking into the proposed relocation.
Another big controversy has involved Disney’s animation studios, which have started including more LGBTQ characters as part of Pixar and Disney Animation’s efforts to produce stories that include a more diverse swath of characters and cultures.
Ahead of the June release of “Lightyear,” the company made headlines after Pixar creatives managed to reinstate a same-sex kiss that had been cut from the film. Its newest animated release, “Strange World,” also includes a main character who is gay and has a crush on a boy in the film.
Disney was praised for its inclusion of such characters, but many felt the company did not do enough to support the decisions when they received backlash from some conservative critics.
On Monday, Iger pointed to films like “Black Panther” and “Coco” as examples of Disney projects that “changed the world for good.” Iger said that the company’s creative decisions won’t make everyone happy, but that its studios will not lessen their core values.
“It’s complicated, and there’s a balance,” he said.
Iger also announced plans during the town hall to keep the company’s hiring freeze in place, concentrate on making its streaming platforms profitable and reevaluate the company’s overall organizational structure.

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