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Wealthy flock to Cape Town

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HOT PROPERTY The V&A Waterfront in Cape Town, with a view of Table Mountain. Picture: Education Images / Getty Images
HOT PROPERTY The V&A Waterfront in Cape Town, with a view of Table Mountain. Picture: Education Images / Getty Images

Cape Town has the world’s second highest seasonal fluctuation of US-dollar multimillionaire populations in the world.

The city’s number of US-dollar multimillionaires, those with assets worth more than $10 million (R145 million), fluctuates 608% between its low month in July, when the multimillionaire population is estimated to be 380, and its peak month in December, when it is estimated to be 2 690, according to the Knight Frank 2016 Wealth Report.

The only other destination with a greater seasonal fluctuation surveyed by Knight Frank is the Hamptons near New York.

With its long stretches of beach, the Hamptons is known as a summer destination for affluent New York residents.

Its seasonal fluctuation of US-dollar multimillionaires varied by a huge 777% from 1 060 in January to 9 300 in August.

US-dollar multimillionaire population figures include those staying in permanent or second homes and exclude people staying in hotels.

Knight Frank tracks the value of the world’s leading prime residential property markets.

On average, the value of the world’s leading prime residential property markets increased 1.8% last year.

The value of property in Cape Town last year increased by 6.9% in local currency terms, placing it 13th out of the 100 cities tracked by Knight Frank.

Property in Vancouver, Canada, came first last year with a 24.5% price hike.

“A lack of supply, coupled with foreign demand and spurred on by a weaker Canadian dollar, explains the city’s stellar performance,” Knight Frank said.

In another major South African city, Johannesburg, property prices increased by 4% and came in 26th place.

Among other African cities, in Nairobi, Kenya, property values advanced by 2.9%, while in Lagos, Nigeria, property value declined by 20%, which placed this city last, at 100th place, out of all the cities surveyed.

The report found that Cape Town offered the best value for money among the major cities surveyed.

In December, $1 million (R14.5 million) could buy you 255m2 of property in Cape Town, making the city’s property the cheapest among 20 major cities.

The most expensive properties on the list of 20 are those in Monaco, where you can buy just 17m2 of property for $1 million.

Over the past decade, Knight Frank found that South Africa’s inward investment had increased by 36% to $132 billion, while its outward investment had shot up by 423% to $162 billion.

SPIKE IN RICH AFRICANS IN PAST 10 YEARS

There has been a significant rise in the number of extremely wealthy Africans over the past 10 years in many major cities on the continent.

In the 21 African cities surveyed by Knight Frank, the number of ultrarich – those with assets worth more than $30 million – stood at 1 278.

Almost two thirds of these very wealthy people live in four of Africa’s major cities, namely Johannesburg, Cape Town, Cairo and Lagos.

Over the past decade, the number of incredibly wealthy people in 15 of these cities has more than doubled.

The biggest wealth increase has been seen in Luanda in Angola, which is rich in mineral wealth, and especially in oil, where the number has risen by a massive 316% to 54.

Accra in Ghana has seen a 282% hike in the very wealthy to 25 people, and in Lusaka in Zambia the number of ­extremely rich has risen by 255% in the past decade to eight people.

Looking into the future, the Knight Frank report forecast that the number of super wealthy people will more than ­double in Maputo in Mozambique, Port Louis in Mauritius, Abidjan in Ivory Coast and Addis Ababa in Ethiopia in the next 10 years.

The number of individuals in the 21 African cities, who have assets worth more than $10 million, stood at 3 720 as at the end of last year, while those worth more than $1 million totalled 82 100.

In South Africa, Johannesburg had the most people with assets worth more than $10 million at 1 030, and the highest count of people worth more than $1 million at 23 400.

Cape Town had 390 people with assets worth more than $10 million, and 8 900 people with assets worth more than $1 million.

Knight Frank said its data in 2015 showed that the ­extremely rich in Africa held assets of $200 billion.

Last year, there were 35 US-dollar billionaires in Africa and 351 people on the continent with more than $100 million in assets.

“There has been a sea change in attitudes towards sub-Saharan Africa over the past decade, as a rising number of investors have recognised it as a region of long-term growth and opportunity,” the report said.


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