WINDHOEK – Africa continues to fuel global property prices, as the continent’s growth rate creates a class of well off individuals with an appetite for risks. This is according to The Wealth Report 2014, which shows that in 2013, prime residential property prices rose in the majority of locations around the world, including a number of African cities. Even though Namibia did not feature at the top as it did in the 2012 Knight and Frank Report for most expensive properties, The Wealth Report notes that Namibia is among the countries set to post decent wealth growth rates among citizens with diamond mining and investment in solar energy as the key drivers of wealth growth. The number of ultra-wealthy individuals across the globe rose by 3 percent last year, despite continued economic turbulence and uncertainty in many countries. This means that nearly 5 000 people joined the ranks of ultra rich people in 2013, taking the number of individuals with US$30m or more in net assets to over 167 000 worldwide, according to exclusive new data prepared for The Wealth Report.
The number of ultra rich people across the world has ballooned by 59 percent since 2003, more than doubling in the Middle East, Latin America, Australasia and Africa. The number of centa- millionaires – those with US$100m in net assets – has risen by 62 percent, while the tally of billionaires has climbed by 80 percent to 1 682, according to WealthInsight, a leading wealth intelligence firm. Nevertheless, the reports finds that overall property price falls were recorded in 39 percent of 90 locations, compared with almost half in 2012. A fifth of markets featured saw double-digit price growth in 2013 against only 15 percent the year before. The main division is between generally booming Asian markets, which dominate the top positions in our ranking of price growth, and the weaker European markets that account for 80 percent of all locations where prices declined in 2013. Jakarta heads the list, with annual growth of 38 percent, almost exactly the same as the rate seen in 2012. With Bali number three in the table, while Indonesia’s key markets are continuing to outperform the rest. Elsewhere, New Zealand’s prime markets have also strengthened significantly, with very strong annual growth in both Auckland and Christchurch, Layne Harwood, Managing Director of Knight Frank New Zealand, points to two key factors of strong economic fundamentals, with GDP growth comfortably above 3 percent in 2013, and strengthening inward migration from Asia in the main, but also powered by returning ex-pats. The rebound in markets most affected by the downturn in 2008 has continued.
Dubai experienced 17 percent growth in 2013, to add to its 20 percent gain in 2012. In Dublin, which witnessed tentative increases in 2012, prices climbed 18 percent in 2013. Cities in Asia-Pacific have, by and large, performed particularly strongly, although government cooling measures have pulled back growth in Singapore and Hong Kong. “As we note throughout this year’s report, investors’ appetite for risk is growing. The withdrawal of stimulus measures such as quantitative easing may be one catalyst, but so too is rising economic confidence, especially in North America and Europe. Investment decisions are destined to take on an increasingly adventurous flavour; and recovering European property markets, which were firmly off the radar two years ago, are seen by many as a key opportunity for this year. This new-found desire for risk does not presage a wholesale flight from prime to secondary property,” the report says. While Asia’s growing domination of our rankings and league tables continues, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America are increasingly taking the lead in terms of demand for overseas education, luxury spending and property investment.
By Staff Reporter