Three Asian nationalities led by Singapore have made it to the top 10 list of luxury home buyers abroad, according to the Wealth Report 2012 by Knight Frank and Citibank.
Singaporeans, along with buyers from China and Hong Kong were listed as the top purchasers of luxury property, while Indonesia, Malaysia and India were among the nations of growing importance. Vietnam and the Philippines were ranked as the economies to watch.
Over the next five years, Latin American, Russian, Middle Eastern, Chinese and other nationalities from emerging economies are expected to become prime property buyers, the report noted.
Moreover, governance was found to be the main problem for most emerging countries, forcing high-net-worth individuals with more than S$100 million to relocate to other destinations.
“The newly enriched become aware of the potential impacts of corruption and arbitrary rule changes on their ability to plan for inter-generational wealth transfers. In extreme cases, as wealth steadily increases, so too do the perceived risks from falling out of political favour,” added the report.
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