M10| Friday, March 6, 2020 THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.
more. The previous year
saw a rate of just 4%.
North America created
the most of this cohort,
adding 13,911 in 2019, com-
pared with 4,682 in Europe.
Asia also saw its population
increase dramatically over
the past year, adding 11,788
such individuals, according
to the report.
The trend is set to con-
tinue. The number of ultra-THE MARKET
The Rapid Growth
Of the Mega-Rich
The number of people worth $30 million or more is way up
NEW YORK CITYcondo de-
velopers are facing a supply
overhang and tax changes
resulting in greater costs for
buyers. But there is one
bright spot: an uptick in the
number of people around
the world who can afford
their seven-digit apartments.
Approximately 31,000 ul-
tra-high-net-worth people
were minted in 2019, an an-
nual growth rate of 6% and
more than three people per
hour, according to a new re-
port by U.K.-based real-es-
tate firm Knight Frank and
New York brokerage Doug-
las Elliman. The report de-
fined ultra-high-net-worth
individuals as people with a
net worth of $30 million or
BYKATHERINECLARKE
lion or more, though those
numbers don’t include all
new development inventory.
The report also points to
a shift in how ultra-high-
net-worth individuals are
spending their money, said
Liam Bailey, global head of
research at Knight
Frank. Amid con-
cerns of a global
economic slow-
down, they are
shifting investing
strategies in
2020, eschewing
equities for pri-
vate-equity investments,
cash, gold and real estate.
Roughly 43% of the re-
spondents in the survey of
620 wealth advisers, who
manage about $3.3 trillion
on behalf of these individu-
als, said they would increase
their real-estate exposure in
2020, the data shows. Mean-
while, roughly 38% said they
planned to cut their alloca-
tions in equities.
Predictions about small
groups aren’t an exact sci-
ence. Knight Frank also has
an economic interest in
selling high-end homes.
For buyers in Asia partic-
ularly, the U.S. is still the
top destination for residen-
tial real estate outside their
home countries, according
to an attitudes survey cited
in the report.
“The appeal of holding adollar-denominated asset in
the world’s biggest econ-
omy is likely to increase on
the back of 2019’s three rate
cuts, with some buyers
viewing the lull in the run
up to the presidential elec-
tion as a potential opportu-
nity,” the report
said.
However, it
was cities in Eu-
rope and Asia
that topped
Knight Frank’s
pricing index in- Germany’s
Frankfurt topped the list of
fastest-growing cities in
terms of real-estate prices,
posting a 10.3% gain in 2019,
thanks in part to rock-bot-
tom interest rates.
In Asia, the city of Taipei
posted a gain of 8.9%.
Vancouver was the weak-
est performer, with a de-
cline of 8.3%. Once a popu-
lar market with Chinese
buyers, the market has been
affected by a torrent of reg-
ulations since 2016, includ-
ing a 20% foreign-buyer tax.
New York also instituted
a mansion tax, which
charges buyers a larger
one-time tax payment at
the time of closing. It in-
creases incrementally with
purchase prices of $2 mil-
lion or more, topping out at
3.9% for properties sold for
$25 million or more.
31,000
PEOPLE
Worth $30 million
or more were
minted last year.high-net-worth individuals
around the world is fore-
cast to grow by about 27%
in the next five years, ac-
cording to the report. That
means there will be about
650,000 people around the
world with at least $30 mil-
lion by 2024.
Countries with the fast-
est-growing population of
these individuals include
India, which is slated to seea 73% increase by 2024, as
well as Egypt, Vietnam and
China.
Luxury New York real-es-
tate agent Leonard Stein-
berg of Compass said these
are the kind of numbers
that drive real-estate mar-
keters in cities like New
York.
“The billionaire class is a
small group of people and
they’re exceedingly over ex-
posed,” he said. “The lesser
known rich don’t get nearly
as much press. Real-estate
marketers are paying close
attention to where they
are,” he said.
A search of website
StreetEasy shows that there
are about 155 listings in
Manhattan priced at $10 mil-FRANKFURT
5 bedrooms
$1.8 MillionVANCOUVER
3 bedrooms
$1.7 MillionOn The Money
What$1millionbuysinsquare
feetincitiesacrosstheglobe.
Source: Knight Frank Research/Douglas
Elliman/Ken Corporation (Data as of Dec. 2019)
Monaco
Hong Kong
London
New York
Singapore
Geneva
Los Angeles
Paris
Sydney
Shanghai
Tokyo
Miami
Mumbai
Dubai
Cape Town
77squarefeet
229
327
347
382
404
420
480
543
626
696
966
, 00
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FROM TOP: DOUGLAS ELLIMAN; DEXTER REALTY CANADA; KNIGHT FRANKMANSION
UPPER EAST SIDE,
NEW YORK
4 bedrooms
$65 MillionNY