‘London, New York, Tokyo are most popular destinations for UHNW individuals’

Of all the world cities, especially those classified as real estate destinations, London, New York and Tokyo are the most popular for people with fabulous income generally referred to as ultra-high networth (UHNW) individuals, a new report on luxury real estate has revealed.

The report, Global Property Handbook – a review of the luxury real estate market that explores the buying habits of the world’s wealthiest people—produced by Wealth-X in collaboration with Warburg Realty and Barnes International Realty, explains that UHNW are individuals with a net worth of $30 million or more, and lists Cuba as one of the top emerging markets for real estate developers.

“This report is the first-ever attempt at putting the global real estate market into perspective,” says Frederick Warburg Peters, CEO of Warburg Realty, adding, “using the resources of three companies, we’ve taken a deep dive into where the world’s highest earners are living, playing and investing – and explored the practical, emotional and financial factors involved in their buying decisions.”

Ugo Arinze, CEO, Onyx Properties, a London-based real estate firm, says London tops the list for its world class culture, central location, financial security and relative ease of doing business. “We believe London will continue to appeal to international investors, and with recent decline in the pound, properties have become significantly cheaper”, she adds.

She sees Chinese buyers eyeing London property because with the British currency at a 30-year low and the Chinese property market at a 25-year high, many Chinese buyers renewed their focus on the London property market.

“Sales of homes in London’s most exclusive neighborhoods to Chinese buyers has increased since the Brexit vote. Despite the economic uncertainty of Brexit, Chinese buyers see the British currency and property markets as stable in the long term”, she says, quoting a Financial Times report which says “Chinese investors have increased their focus on London’s property market partly due to pound depreciation and new restrictions on property purchases in China”.

Chinese investment in London’s most exclusive areas shows an increasing trend since the Brexit vote at the end of June last year. Investment in the commercial property market has also been increasing this year, despite other investors withdrawing capital.

Arinze notes also that despite many real estate experts predicting London prices to remain flat in 2017, long term prospects of price growth remain, pointing out that average property price in London is £481,000 and is expected to increase by 11 percent in the next five years.

“In addition, rental prices are expected to increase 25 percent in the next five years. Those purchasers taking a long term view are in a good position to acquire a property at a good value now with further appreciation long term”, she says.

A new research also predicts that Brexit will stop the growth of London house prices in 2017 with an expected sales slump to follow. Similarly, property firm, Savills, predicts that Brexit uncertainty will put the brakes on four years of house price increases ushering in a period of flat house prices as Britain triggers formal negotiations to leave the European Union.

CHUKA UROKO