Hong Kong top Asian city for ultra-wealthy individuals, Beijing snatches second spot from Singapore, Altrata study shows
- Hong Kong is home to 15,175 ultra-high-net-worth (UHNW) individuals, comprising mostly primary residences of the wealthy, study shows
- UHNW footprint in Beijing driven by strong demand from second-homers
London-based Altrata tracks the super rich. Only about 400,000 people out of the estimated global population of 8 billion belong to this elite club, the report said. It based its findings on the Wealth-X database, which calculates the number of wealthy individuals in each city by residential presence.
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“However, recent political developments have diminished Hong Kong’s attractiveness to non-financial international companies.”
The city is offering a slew of incentives, such as a refund of the extra stamp duty that non-locals pay when buying Hong Kong residential properties, as long as they remain in Hong Kong for seven years and obtain permanent residence. Other perks include a new two-year visa for individuals who earned no less than HK$2.5 million (US$318,000) in the past year and graduates of the world’s top 100 universities with at least three years’ work experience in the previous five years.
Beijing, meanwhile, has overtaken Singapore as the Asian city with the second highest concentration of well-heeled individuals, with 8,923 super-rich residents compared to Singapore’s 7,471. Globally, the Chinese capital ranked seventh, while Singapore came in at eighth place.
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The study, however, noted that Tokyo would “almost certainly” rank among the top five cities in the list, except for the “opacity of Japan’s real estate market data”.
US cities dominated the top 20 rankings. Besides New York, other American cities in the top 10 were Los Angeles, Miami, San Francisco, Chicago and Washington.
“The financial centre of the world’s largest wealth market and the biggest regional economy in the US, New York reigns at the top of the city rankings, with a total UHNW footprint approaching 22,000 individuals,” the report said.
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“Its five boroughs of Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan, The Bronx and Staten Island offer a rich blend of culture, luxury consumption, high-quality education and prime real estate. New York’s dominant status is reflected in its top ranking not only for the number of UHNW individuals by primary residence but also for second-homers,” it added.
In Europe, besides London, Paris made it on the top 20 list, copping the 13th spot with 5,235 affluent individuals. “Germany, the world’s third-largest UHNW market, has no city representation in the top 25. This is largely explained by the stock of private wealth being dispersed more evenly across the country’s domestic urban centres than is the case in other leading UHNW markets,” the study said.
In terms of density, Hong Kong ranked third among non-US cities with one UHNW individual in 351 primary residents or second homeowners in the city.
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“Hong Kong stands out among top-tier global cities, with one ultra wealthy resident or second-homer for every 351 city residents, around three times the UHNW density level of New York and Los Angeles,” Altrata said.
Monaco topped this table, leading by some margin with one UHNW homeowner for every 39 residents. The report cited the tiny but wealthy principality’s attractions such as climate and location, low-tax environment and high levels of security for drawing wealthy individuals. “Demand for real estate far exceeds constrained supply in the coastal principality, adding to its exclusivity,” said the report.
Geneva came in second with one for every 213 residents.
