Knight Frank's The Wealth Report 2014 shows that Asia' high net worth individuals (HNWI) prefer holding real estate asset class as a form of investment. Ultra HNWI are individuals with net assets exceeding US$30 million excluding their home.
The results show that 45 per cent of Asia's HNWI have plans to place more investment in property this year. Singapore's ultra HNWI still prefer investing in Singapore despite the various cooling measures put in place. The wealth attitude survey shows that there are still interest in prime residential and commercial properties among HNWI.
The favourable business environment and tax regime, political stability and the growing recognition of Singapore as a regional financial hub are the key qualities that attract the ultra HNWI in both Singapore and Asia. However, there are risk of interest rates increase around 2015 and possible shift in political power.
However, as a whole, UK topped the favoured location for second home, followed by Singapore, the US and Australia.
The survey which involved 600 private bankers and wealth advisers is carried out jointly with the Bank of Singapore. The respondents consist of more than 23,000 ultra-HNWI with an average net worth of US$68 million and as whole the total net assets is US$1.5 trillion.
The report also includes the global cities survey and Prime International Residential Index. The survey shows that London holds the top spot as the most important city to the World's wealthiest, followed by New York then Singapore. By 2024, six out of the 10 top cities are expected to be in Asia-Pacific as compared to the current five. The index shows that the Asian markets dominate the index this year with Jakarta heading with an annual growth of 38 per cent, Bali in the third place with a gain of 22 per cent. The prices in Beijing rose 17 per cent and Guangzhou rose 14 per cent.
For more District Guides, you can head over to iProperty.com Singapore.