This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
RISING property values has made Australians wealthier. The number of ultra-wealthy people (those with net assets of US$50 million or more) increased by 9% in 2017 and is poised to jump by 37% over the next five years, according to Knight Frank.
Knight Frank’s The Wealth Report 2018 shows Australia is keeping up with the global growth, which increased by 10% in 2017, taking the world’s richest population to 129,730, with a combined worth of US$26.4 trillion.
The data provided by Wealth-X highlights that the ultra-wealthy population grew at a notably more rapid rate in 2017 than in the previous five years, when there was a cumulative 18% increase.
Australia’s future growth also mirrors the global trend, which predicts the number of ultra-wealthy people will grow by a further 40% by 2022.
“In Australia, the number of ultra-wealthy people rose by 9% in 2017 – taking the population to 1,260, with a combined worth of US$269 billion. This is equivalent to 5.2 ultra-wealthy individuals per 100,000 of the Australian population,” Knight Frank’s head of residential research Michelle Ciesielski said.
“Over the next five years, the number of ultra-wealthy people in Australia is projected to increase by 37% to 1,720.
“This growth in Australia’s ultra-wealthy population can be attributed to several factors. Firstly, we’ve seen significant growth in prime property prices. Secondly, despite recent instability, the equities market has also seen gains over the past year,” she added.
Furthermore Ciesielski said Australia is the third most-preferred global destination for the world’s ultra-high-net-worth individuals (UHNWIs) to emigrate, behind the UK and the US.
“Australia ranked in the top five destinations of where UHNWIs plan to buy prime property in 2018. Malaysia, Singapore, China, Hong Kong and the Philippines scored high on the Attitudes Survey for those planning to buy Australian prime property in 2018,” Ciesielski said.
The Attitudes Survey found that obtaining secondary passports and residencies is a growing trend for the world’s wealthiest people. Globally, 34% of UHNWIs already hold a second passport and 29% are planning to purchase one, while 21% are considering emigrating permanently.
Australian head of residential Sarah Harding said looking at the cost and access of citizenship and residency by investment programmes around the world, Australia ranked seventh with a substantial minimum capital requirement of US$1.2 million, according to the Henley Passport Index.
“Knight Frank’s Attitudes Survey also found in Australia that 27% of UHNWIs hold a second or dual nationality passport, while only 6% are considering emigrating permanently. These figures highlight the popularity of Australia as a destination,” Harding said.
Globally, when looking at how specific ultra-wealthy populations have fared between 2012 and 2017, the picture is mixed. While the number of people with US$50 million or more in net assets rose in North America (+31%), Asia (+37%) and Europe (+10%), there were falls in the remaining five regions, most notably in Latin America and the Caribbean (-22%) and Russia and CIS (-37%).
North America remains the world’s largest wealth region – some 34% of the world’s ultra-wealthy are based there. The region’s ultra-wealthy population increased by a further 5% last year, taking the total number to 44,000.
Europe, however, narrowly lost its second place spot to Asia, despite a 10% rise over the past year in the number of ultra-wealthy Europeans, taking its total to 35,180. A 15% rise in Asia’s ultra-wealthy cadre took its population to 35,880, according to Wealth-X.
The data also showed that the number of multi-millionaires with $5 million or more in net assets around the world rose by 9% in 2017, with the number of ‘demi-billionaires’, those with $500m or more in net assets, climbing by 11%.
Australian Property Journal
