Ultra Rich Influencing Real Estate Prices Globally

Pieces of the Prime Pie

With the abundance of wealth in the San Francisco Bay-area, it’s surprising to find this region ranks fourth among other U.S. cities. New York alone is home to 1.167 million high-net-individuals, earning a minimum of $250,000 a year. Los Angeles (637,700), Chicago (400,416), San Francisco (396,431) follow with an additional 1.3 million households. As these individuals flex their spending power, price jumps have become inevitable. Foreign buyers, who spent $153 billion between April 2016 and March 2017, attraction remains strong. The investment doesn’t stop there - sights have been set abroad in Guangzhou, China, which saw a 27 percent spike in prices between 2016 and 2017, followed closely by Cape Town with a 19% spike, and Aspen a close third, with 15%.

No Signs of Slowing in the Future Five

North America remains the leader in wealth concentration with 34% of global wealth located here, however according to Knight Frank 5-year projections, China and India aren’t far behind. China’s individual wealth is expected to double, while India’s is expected to increase by 71 percent in the next five years. As individual affluence expectancy grows, this could mean change for the top prime cities. Currently Hong Kong remains the most expensive city at $4,000 per square foot, followed by Tokyo($3,280), London($1,770), and New York($1,570).