Super-prime home sales value to rise 27% in London, NY, HK & SG

May 3, 2013 - PropertyGuru.com.sg

By Romesh Navaratnarajah:

The value of residential property purchases worth more than US$15.5 million (S$19.18 million) in London, New York, Hong Kong and Singapore is expected to rise by 27 percent in the next five years, according to a report.

Produced by British luxury developer Candy & Candy, Savills and Deutsche Bank, the study looked at ultra-prime property markets in these four cities and their outlook.

Collectively, these areas saw over 300 residential property transactions worth more than US$15.5 million (S$19.18 million) last year, according to Savills.

Overall, transaction value surpassed US$10 billion (S$12.37 billion) in 2012. But by 2017, the number of transactions in this category is expected to reach 400 annually with a combined worth of at least US$13 billion (S$16.08 billion).

The report also looked at the surge in the number of ultra-high-net-worth individuals (UHNWI) and how they will affect demand for super-prime homes in the four cities.

“By 2017, the UHNWI population is expected to have increased by 20 percent and their wealth by 30 percent,” said Nick Candy, CEO of Candy & Candy.

“A trophy ‘safe haven’ property in a global city is typically at the top of the shopping list for wealthy individuals, and their continuing appetite for such investment is expected to exert even greater influence over global property markets in the next few years.”

The report added that global wealth is forecasted to increase to US$150 trillion (S$185.6 trillion) by 2017. Meanwhile, the number of billionaires rose by more than 10 percent in 2012, while their fortunes grew by 14 percent.

Romesh Navaratnarajah, Senior Editor of PropertyGuru, wrote this story. To contact him about this or other stories email [e-mail]