According to a new study quoted from Bloomberg very very rich people, i.e. those with assets exceeding 30 million dollars, make real estate investments mainly in twenty large cities: most of them are US metropolises, three are in Asia, only two are European and one is in Canada. By far the favorite city is New York, followed by London and Hong Kong.
The millionaires surveyed by the study belong to a specific category of person ultra-high-net-worth individuals (“extremely high net worth individuals”, UHNWI), i.e. those who have “ultra high” net worth: these are not simply rich or wealthy people but those with over $30 million in net worth, i.e. between homes, accounts currents, financial investments and so on. Understanding where these people invest in real estate is a rather observed fact because it gives an idea of where it is possible to expect important real estate development or in any case where it is possible to think that there will not be a decline in the sector in the short term.
Another notable fact is that the big cities of the world are still the places where these people tend to reside or buy second homes, both for cultural and lifestyle reasons. The distribution of wealth across countries and regions has changed in recent decades, but large cities remain the preferred location for luxury real estate investments.
New York is the city where the homes and second homes of the wealthiest (ie those considered by the study) are most concentrated. It is the largest financial center in the world and represents one of the largest regional economies in the United States. New York’s status confirms it as the first city not only for the number of first homes, but also for that of second homes.
In second place is London, which still continues to attract the wealthiest despite the fact that the United Kingdom does not have very good economic prospects and the fact that many high finance workers they are leaving her anyway. However, the city’s real estate market is always growing, which is why many choose it as a second home, also from an investment point of view. Hong Kong is in third position thanks above all to the first homes of the richest, who are attracted by the large international financial centre, low taxation and good connections with China.
Continuing with the ranking, however, it is evident that most of the attractive centers for the richest are located in the United States, which host 14 of the 20 cities in which the first and second homes of the rich are concentrated. This reflects not only the fact that many wealthy actually reside in the United States, but also the fact that in addition to the classic New York there is a wide choice of large cities to go to, even when you want to buy a second home.
If we then consider only second homes – and exclude those in the United States, which really rank separately – Milan is also among the ten cities with the most second homes for the wealthy.