Whatshot
Property Talk
Property Talk
Date: 2016-03-18
You may ask yourself the question as to where all these UHNWI's are in the world? According to he breakdown provided the vast majority (37%) are in North America. This is followed by Europe (25%) and Asia (22%). That only leaves 16% for the Middle East, Australasia, Latin America & Carribean, Africa and Russia. With the whole of Africa only contributing 2,620 UHNWI's in 2015 or 1,4% of the global total, this provides some perspective on where the wealth is centered around the world.
One of the fascinating aspects of the Wealth Report is the publication of the Prime International Residential Index - PIRI, which looks at 100 cities globally and ranks them according to price growth over the past year. In 2015, 66 of the top 100 cities had flat or positive price escalation, whereas 34 cities showed varying levels of negative price growth. The Canadian city of Vancouver came out on top with prices escalating by an incredible 24,5%, followed by Sydney with 14,8% price growth, Shanghai at 14,1%, Istanbul at 13% and Munich at 12%. Cape Town featured in position 13 with 6,9% growth in prices and Johannesburg in 26th position with growth of 4%. The worst performance by far was Lagos with prices receding by -20%. Dubai prices were recorded as decreasing by -5,5% in terms of this survey. An interesting comparison often used in this report is what US$1m will buy in terms of square metres across the top cities. The most expensive rate per square meter is to be found in Monaco where US1$m buys only 17 sqm - less than a single garage size. This amount buys 20 sqm in Hong Kong, 22 sqm in London, 27 sqm in New York and 40 sqm in both Geneva and Sydney. In Cape Town US$1m will buy you 255 sqm and in Zimbali a far more respectable 750 sqm. This gives you some idea of how undervalued Zimbali real estate currently is on a global standard.
The benefit we have in living in relative obscurity along the KZN North Coast is that we have the opportunity to adopt best practice to our local environment from the development hotspots around the world while enjoying the luxury of space at bargain prices.
For further information and an interactive analysis of this article follow my blog: andreaswassenaar.blogspot.com.
Andreas Wassenaar
Principal - Seeff Dolphin Coast
Cell: 082 837 9094