2011 Wealth Report Shows Asia Catching The West

Online, April 14, 2011 (Newswire.com) - The 2011 edition of The Wealth Report by Knight Frank released on April 6th has revealed some interesting facts about high net worth individuals (HNWI) worldwide.

The report, produced in conjunction with Citi Private Bank, shows that globally HNWIs invest thirty five per cent of their wealth in prime real estate. This is second only to their investment in their own businesses.

For HNWIs in Asia, quality of education and taxes were cited as the most important factors when choosing a location to buy property. In fact, twenty nine per cent of Asia's HNWI second home buyers said their children's education was the overriding factor when picking a location to buy property overseas.

The Wealth Report also details the locations where the largest property price increases have taken place in the past year.

Six out of ten of the largest property price rises were in Asia. The biggest increase in Asia came in Shanghai, with a twenty one per cent rise, whilst London and New York saw increases of ten and thirteen per cent respectively.

The top ten reads as follows: (1) Shanghai, (2) Mumbai, (3) Singapore, (4) Helsinki, (5) Bangalore, (6) Paris, (7) Hong Kong, (8) New York, (9) Manila and (10) Guernsey.

But for now, Monaco remains the most expensive residential location in the world, followed by London.

However, Asian countries are catching up fast; figures from The Wealth Report Attitudes Survey, which surveys the opinions of five thousand HNWI clients from Citi Private Bank, show that Mumbai, in India has increased in importance by one hundred and eighteen per cent, Shanghai in China by ninety one per cent and Sao Paolo in Brazil by sixty six per cent.

Property prices in a number of cities also fell sharply, including Dublin by minus twenty five per cent and Dubai by minus ten per cent.

The report also shows that the largest increase in wealth occurred in the Asia Pacific region, with a thirty five per cent rise year on year.

"The collective worth of the global HNWI community increased by 22% last year, according to data in the 2011 Wealth Report, so it is not surprising that many of the world's luxury property markets benefitted. The biggest increase in wealth was in Asia Pacific (+35%) and that is where we also recorded the biggest increases in property prices," commented Andrew Shirley, editor of The Wealth Report.

"However, it is not just wealth creation that is ensuring that the international prime property market contains players from more countries than ever before. As we have seen recently in North Africa and the Middle East, a number of major geopolitical shifts are now playing out around the world. These all serve to enhance the desirability of true global centres, like London and New York," he added.

The report concluded that sixty four per cent of HNWIs will increase their spending on overseas property, art, fine wines, private jets and yachts over the next five years.

Article... http://www.ovgmarketing.com/2011-wealth-report-shows-asia-catching-the-west/

Rebecca Smith
OVG Marketing - http://www.ovgmarketing.com