Asia luxury home prices rise amid market turmoil

Sep 21, 2011 - PropertyGuru.com.sg

Owners of “ultra prime” homes in Asia have seen the values of their properties rise amid the global economic crisis, particularly in Singapore and Mumbai.

The increase in value of luxury properties, defined as homes valued above £10 million (US$15.7 million), has been less prevalent in Western cities, traditionally home to the world’s property market elite.

Global real estate service provider, Savills, noted that billionaire homeowners in Singapore and Mumbai have witnessed the value of their properties skyrocket by 144 percent and 138 percent respectively in the past five years. Conversely, London and New York’s ultra prime homes have appreciated by a maximum of 40 percent in the same period.

“Many more of the world’s billionaires are being created in China, rather than in New York or London and it is shifting the buying patterns,” said Yolande Barnes, Director of Residential Research at Savills.

“There are so many barriers for China’s billionaires getting into Europe or the US, whereas it is relatively easy for them to repatriate wealth out of mainland China and into Hong Kong,” she added.

Although the lure of emerging financial centres is obvious to cash-laden buyers, the stability of high-end property in New York, London and Paris continues to draw international investment.

London is known as a haven for overseas buyers to park their money and has attracted £3.3 billion of inward investment throughout 2010. Access to the country’s educational system, political stability and secure economy are some of the perks that have drawn buyers to the capital.

In all, the value of ultra-prime properties have surged 65 percent in the past five years, with the first half of 2011 witnessing an increase of 10 percent.

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