REUTERS/Andy Clark
People walking by are seen through a crystal ball held by street performer Dawn Monette, during lunch hour in Vancouver May 10, 2013.
Every year luxury estate agent Knight Frank and Wealth-X, the research firm that concentrates on high net worth individuals, release a comprehensive report about the world’s wealthiest people, and most expensive things.
It features all sorts of insights, including what super rich people are spending their money on, what they’re most worried about, and where they’re flying their private jets the most (seriously!)
The report also includes a look at the cities where the price of so-called “prime property” — basically swanky apartments and houses — is increasing the most, using data from Knight Frank’s global network of estate agents.
You might think that property prices in London, where average house prices are as much as 38 times higher than earnings in some places, would be right at the top of Knight Frank’s list, but it doesn’t even make it onto our ranking, coming in 54th.
Other major cities to miss out include New York, Moscow, Rome, and Tokyo, all of which saw prime properties gain less than 2.5% in value during 2015.
You can check out the cities where prime property prices are rising the most below.
29. Barcelona, Spain — 3.3%: Prices in Spain’s second city, home to celebrities and world class footballers, jumped in 2015. However in terms of price increases, it only ranked third in Spain.
28. Tel Aviv, Israel —3.7%: Knight Frank says that there are 29,000 millionaires living in Tel Aviv, and obviously they all need a nice place to live. The city has just 400,000 people in total so supply is short, pushing prices higher.
27. Boston, US — 3.8%: New York and Washington both miss out on being cities where prime property prices have risen the most, but Boston just makes the cut.
26. Johannesburg, South Africa — 4%: Johannesburg’s 4% growth in prime properties makes it the second fastest growing market in the whole of Africa. 23,000 of the city’s one million citizens are classed as millionaires by Knight Frank.
25. Phuket, Thailand — 4.1%: Knight Frank says that the prices of condos on the Thai island have increased more than villas in the past year. The area’s property market has recovered massively after the island was devastated by a tsunami in 2004.
24. Beijing, China — 4.3%: Beijing recently became the world’s most billionaire-dense city, and its also home to one of the hottest property markets in the world. Only five Asian cities saw prime property prices jump more in 2015.
23. Méribel, France — 4.5%: Resorts in the French Alps like Meribel attract wealthy people from around the world wanting to enjoy a bit of skiing or snowboarding. That means that high-end properties are in serious demand, and as a result, prices popped last year, Knight Frank says.
22. Los Angeles, US — 4.7%: Home to the glitz and glamour of Hollywood and a substantial number of major financial firms, LA’s prime properties are in high demand. Many of the most expensive homes in the sprawling city are clustered around the areas of Beverly Hills, Malibu, and Bel Air.
21 (joint). Ibiza, Spain — 5%: Party island Ibiza is a notorious spot for wealthy people to spend their summers, but more and more rich people are now choosing to live there. As Knight Frank puts it: “Year-round flights from most top European cities, good international schools, and strong 4G internet connection have persuaded many wealthy young professionals in northern Europe to either relocate or commute long distance.”
21 (joint). Madrid, Spain — 5%: Madrid’s prime market saw sales growth of 25% in 2015, helping increase prices. That growth will continue in 2016, Knight Frank says: “Steady price growth looks likely to continue in 2016 as the impact of supply constraints are felt in the top districts of Salamanca, Jerónimos, and Chamberí.”
19 (joint). Bengaluru (Bangalore), India —5.1%: Bangalore isn’t perhaps the first city you think of when thinking of India, but its prime property market is getting a boost from the Bangalore’s status as a burgeoning tech hub, Knight Frank says.
19 (joint). Jakarta, Indonesia — 5.1%: The Indonesian capital is home to 26,600 millionaires, all of whom need a home. That helped boost demand, and push the price of prime property upwards in 2015.
17. Val d’Isere, France — 5.8%: Val d’Isere, located in the Savoie region of the French Alps, is one of the most expensive, exclusive ski resorts in the world. Prices for mountain side chalets and apartments in the resort boomed in 2015.
16. Seoul, South Korea — 6.1%: South Korea ranks 15th in the world when it comes to the amount of billionaires living in the country, and that’s reflected in the increasing price of prime property in its capital city, Seoul.
15. Bangkok, Thailand — 6.3%: The Thai capital is better known for its vibrant street markets than its super expensive apartments, but people are pouring money into its prime property market, pushing prices up the most of any Asian city outside of China.
14. Miami, US — 6.4%: With beautiful beaches and warm weather all year round, Miami is very attractive to those wealthy enough to afford it. Huge developments in the city, like the new Porsche Design Tower, are proving very popular with billionaires — but there aren’t enough of them. That lack of supply has pushed prime property prices higher in 2015. They rose the second most of any city in the USA.
13. Cape Town, South Africa — 6.9%: Knight Frank’s report cites a limited supply of prime housing, along with the weak Rand as reasons for the increase. Prices in Cape Town rose the most of any African city.
12. Toronto, Canada — 8%: Toronto is Canada’s financial centre, with many of the country’s biggest banks calling the city home. The weakness of the Canadian dollar has made Canada’s largest cities attractive targets for foreign property investors, push prices up.
11. Berlin, Germany — 9%: The German capital has a burgeoning tech scene, with lots of bright, young, and cash-rich professionals moving to the the city. Knight Frank says that in Germany in general “despite strong house-building rates, the gap between demand and supply is set to expand.”
10 (joint). Monaco — 10%: Monaco’s status as a top destination for people looking to pay as little tax as possible means that it attracts its fair share of the ultra wealthy, and as a result, has some of the highest property prices on earth. They’re still rising too, growing at the joint second highest rate in Europe last year.
10 (joint). Amsterdam, The Netherlands — 10%: Amsterdam isn’t traditionally known as a hub for the world’s richest people, but there’s clearly a lot of interest in the city’s prime property market. Only one city in Europe saw prices rise more in 2015.
8. Auckland, New Zealand — 10.2%: Auckland is the most populous city in New Zealand, and it is also the city where prices for prime real estate rose the most in the country. Despite this, it’s only third when it comes to cities in the Antipodean region of the world.
7. San Francisco, USA — 10.9%: Located right next to Silicon Valley, and just a stone’s throw from the headquarters of massive tech companies like Facebook, Google, and Uber, San Francisco attracts a lot of rich people, and they all need somewhere to live. Prices in the Californian city grew more than anywhere else in the USA during 2015.
6. Melbourne, Australia — 11.9%: Australia’s second most populous city may have seen prices for the most exclusive properties rise by nearly 12%, but it didn’t quite top the charts in the Land Down Under, that honour fell to another city.
5. Munich, Germany — 12%: The European city where prime property increased the most in 2015 wasn’t London or Paris, it wasn’t even a capital city, but Munich, the Bavarian German city with a population of around 1.4 million.
4. Istanbul, Turkey — 13%: Even though Istanbul sits right on the edge of the growing conflict in the Middle East, that didn’t stop people buying prime real estate in 2015 and sending prices surging.
3. Shanghai, China — 14.1%: Shanghai is China’s financial capital, meaning that a lot of very wealthy people are bound to live there. That in turn forces prices for prime properties skywards. Prices rose the most of any city in Asia in 2015.
2. Sydney, Australia — 14.8%: While three antipodean cities saw prime properties gain in excess of 10%, Sydney did the best in 2015, and was the best performer in the southern hemisphere.
1. Vancouver, Canada — 24.5%: Vancouver, on Canada’s Pacific coast, officially has the fastest rising prime property prices on earth. As Knight Frank put it “a lack of supply, coupled with foreign demand, spurred on by a weaker Canadian dollar” explain the city’s stellar performance.
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