Knight Frank, the independent global property consultancy, and Bank of China International Limited jointly hosted a press conference in Hong Kong for the launch of The Wealth Report 2016. Now in its 10th year, the report tracks the growing super-rich population in 98 cities.

• Asia tops the absolute increase in UHNWI population among world regions, both in the last 10 years and in the next 10 years. 
• The global population of Ultra-High-Net-Worth Individuals (UHNWIs) has grown by 60% in the 10 years since The Wealth Report first published in 2007. 
• China ranks 2nd in the world in terms of absolute increase in UHNWI population over the next 10 years. 
• Hong Kong tops UHNWI population among Asia’s cities in 2015. 
• Asia billionaires will surge by 71% over the next decade. 
• China tops the largest billionaire population in Asia in 2015.
• Singapore overtakes Hong Kong, moving to third position in the world’s most important cities to UHNWIs in 2016. 
• Shanghai tops in Asia on prime residential price annual growth in 2015.
• Hong Kong’s luxury homes remain the second most expensive in the world. 

Wealth distribution 

Highlights of Ultra-High-Net-Worth Individual (UHNWI) population:

• There are now 187,468 UHNWIs globally –a 61% rise from 116,800 in 2005. The growth reflects the increase in asset prices and investment returns, especially in the years following the global financial crisis. 
   
• By 2025, the global population of UHNWIs is set to rise by 41% to 263,483; growth is set to be significantly slower than the previous 10 years. 

UHNWI population 2005, 2015 and 2025

UHNWI population 2015-2025 – Top 20 locations in terms of absolute increase

• China and India are ranked 2nd and 3rd in the world in terms of absolute increase in UHNWI population over the next 10 years. 
   
• In 2015, Hong Kong had the highest number of UHNWIs in Asia. The growth of Hong Kong UHNWI population is set to continue in the coming decade. It is expected to climb by 42% to 5,473 in 2025.  
   
• Nicholas Holt, Head of Research for Asia Pacific, says, “Of the 19 countries tracked within Asia Pacific, 12 saw their UHNWI population fall in 2015, principally as a result of global macro-economic events, including the Chinese slowdown, the fall in the price of oil, volatile equity markets and the strengthening of the US dollar. Looking at a longer time horizon however, Asia especially has been a fertile ground for the growth in the number of UHNWIs, with more individuals surpassing the US$30m barrier than in any other region over the last 10 years.
   
• “Much of this newfound wealth in Asia has had an impact on the age profile of Asia’s wealth brackets, reflecting the recent nature of the growth and opportunities in these markets. The average age of population with $10m or more in net assets is a case in point, with Chinese individuals in this bracket on average 10 years younger than their Swiss counterparts." 

Global Wealth Movement
Source: The Wealth Report 2016, Page 30

10-year shift in global wealth movement

The past decade has seen remarkable growth in cross-border investment by individuals, with property forming a significant part of the story. 

The general trend over the past decade has been for significant growth in cross-border investment, led by massive growth in outflows from China (+1,471%) from 2005 to 2015. Looking at inward investment, China has seen notable growth (+500%) as well in the same period of time. 

Asian markets have seen strong interest from regional property investor, have seen concomitant growth in the data reviewed, notably Singapore (+285%), Hong Kong (+222%) and Australia (146%).

David Ji notices that increasingly UHNWIs from China are expanding from residential into investing in commercial properties, especially in the US, either individually or through a private equity fund. Although this trend is not unique to Chinese wealthy, this does imply that the regional hubs in countries like the US will see more small to mid-cap commercial investment going forward.

Top 10 most important cities to UHNWIs

Over the past decade, The Wealth Report has ranked the cities that matter most to the world’s wealthy, based on where they live, invest, educate their children, grow their businesses, network and spend their leisure time. On all measures, year-in year-out, London and New York have vied for the two top slots. No other city comes close in terms of their breadth and depth of appeal. Singapore has also beaten Hong Kong, displacing Hong Kong from the third place.

Prime Residential Property

Prime International Residential Index (PIRI)
Source: The Wealth Report 2016, Page 39

This year, the PIRI included programme data for 100 of the world’s key luxury cities and second-home markets. The index highlights the many factors playing out around the world that affect prime property markets.  

Overall PIRI performance:

• The value of luxury residential property markets rose on average by 1.8% in 2015.
• In 2015, 66 of the PIRI 100 locations recorded flat or positive price growth, while 10 locations recorded double-digit growth. 
• Vancouver is the top performer in our PIRI, with price growth of almost 25% in 2015.
• European cities dominate the top end of the rankings in terms of price growth with 3 cities in the top 10. 
• With the relaxation of cooling measures in some Chinese cities, Shanghai moved up from 61 place in last year’s ranking to the third place, recording 14.1% annual price growth in 2015. Shanghai is also the only Asian city that entered the top 10.
• Singapore (ranked 81, -2.1%), Hong Kong (ranked 91, -3.6%) and Taipei (ranked 93, -4.7%) are the bottom three Asian cities featured in the index.

The PIRI - Annual change in prime prices to Dec 2015

_{All data comes from Knight Frank’s global network with the exception of Tokyo - Ken Corporation; Washington DC - Metropolitan Regional Information Systems, Inc. Statistics generated on 06/01-2016 ©Copyright 2016. All rights reserved. São Paulo - FIPE (Fundação Instituto de Pesquisas Econômicas); Oslo - Torbjørn EK; San Francisco, Miami, Los Angeles, Boston, New York, Chicago - S&P Case Shiller}

_{All price changes relate to local currency and reflect nominal change.  Data for San Francisco, New York, Miami, Los Angeles, Boston, Chicago, and Cyprus relates to the period from 1 Nov 2014 to 31 Oct 2015. Data for The Hamptons, Aspen and Sao Paulo relates to the period from 1 Dec 2014 to 30 Nov 2015. The price change for Tokyo relates to all properties above JPY100m.}