Singapore world's 5th favorite second home location for ultra rich

Assuming a luxury home buyer has US$20M to spend, where should they start looking beside Singapore?

According to The Wealth Report 2012 published by Knight Frank and Citi Private Bank, there is an obvious requirement for first and second homes as many purchasers in this market have a huge attachment to property.

“ It is an asset they can influence and put their mark on. An increasing number of super-rich buyers have an opportunity” portfolio of property, over and above their first and second homes. These are investments in new markets, where there is an opportunity to benefit from restoration, development or even a currency play,” the report said.

For the over 4,000 individuals worth on average over $100m each surveyed, US, UK, France, Spain and Singapore emerged as top favorites for second home locations.

Ledbury Research’s James Lawson said that despite a decade-long transfer of economic power to the emerging world, there remains a distinct bias towards the developed world when it comes to the location of leading prime markets.

“There is something of an oddity that the spread of prime international markets is still very much skewed away from the main centres of economic growth. However, there are I think, some explanatory factors at play. While the new rich in the emerging economies are a diverse group, our research has found that they share at least three consistent traits – and these point to a desire for all things “established” and a continued relevance for leading developed-world locations. Irrespective of whether we’re speaking to wealthy individuals in China, India, the Middle East or anywhere else, we have discovered that they generally share a love of travel, especially outside their own region, and that travel is generally focused on Europe or North America. Secondly, they look to educate their children overseas, generally in the US, UK or Switzerland. Finally, the brands they most like to be associated with – from clothing to cars – tend to be European,” he said.

“When we think about the spread of locations where the super-rich want to invest and spend time, it feels like there should be a wider distribution, but there is still this concentration on the historic wealth hubs, especially in Europe. So far the development of international super-prime markets in Asia has been limited to Singapore, maybe Shanghai and definitely Hong Kong. Our research confirms this list will expand, but the development of truly international demand for prime property in the region is likely to lag behind the explosive development of wealth,” he added.