The Wealth Report 2020
Every year, Douglas Elliman puts out The Wealth Report in conjunction with its international real estate partner, Knight Frank, based out of the UK. This report provides a global perspective on prime property and investment. They define “prime property” as the most desirable and most expensive property in a given location—the top 5% in terms of market value. They also collect data and insight on high-net-worth individuals (over $1 million in net worth) and ultra-high-net-worth individuals (over $30 million in net worth). The Wealth Report essentially analyzes the people and places that make up the highest-end real estate ownership.
Douglas Elliman and Knight Frank recently released the 2020 edition of The Wealth Report. What makes this report particularly exciting is that it is the first report of the new decade. Some have already dubbed the next ten years as the “new roaring twenties” as wealth continues to be created worldwide. Even though the market will always have its ebbs and flows, the data shows the prime real estate market will only continue to grow and evolve in 2020 and throughout the decade.
Download this Year’s Wealth Report
The Wealth Report 2020 features 112 pages of articles and analytics on a variety of luxury real estate topics. There is too much to cover in this one article, so we encourage you to download and read the report yourself. [Click here to download The Wealth Report 2020]
Prime International Residential Index (PIRI)
There is one section we would like to highlight. One of the key data models studied in the report is the Prime International Residential Index (PIRI). It tracks movements in luxury prices in 100 of the world’s top residential markets—from major financial centers to gateway cities to vacation home hotspots.
The PIRI data shows that 78 of the 100 locations studied registered equal or positive real estate price growth in 2019. The average luxury home prices went up 1.8% on average, which is up from 1.3% in 2018. The highest growth rate of the past decade was actually 2.8% in 2013. Major cities dominated top performing markets, especially those in Europe and Asia. Frankfurt, Germany topped the list with a 10.3% gain in 2019. Houston was the top American city—5th overall in the top 100—registering 7.4% growth.
We’ve made it no secret that New York had a fairly slow year in 2019 thanks to the Mansion Tax, new rent laws and several other factors that have made it a buyer’s market. New York came in 94th on the PIRI list with a 3.6% decline in property value growth.
Attitude Survey
Another study in The Wealth Report is the Attitude Survey, which gathers input from high-net-worth individuals to see what is most important to them when buying a property. The most important factor was “access to nearby green spaces for recreation and leisure” while the least important was “energy efficiency and environmental friendliness of the building.” It seems many luxury home buyers want to have more access to the outdoors, but don’t necessarily care as much about the environmental impact of the structure itself.
Obviously, we have Central Park, but expansive green space will never be the main reason anyone moves to Manhattan. There are plenty of other factors that will keep New York a top destination. Things are admittedly a little slow right now, but the ebbs never last too long in this dynamic urban market!
No matter what the data says, we’re always excited to read The Wealth Report when it comes out every year. Anyone who is interested in high-end real estate trends across the globe should download and read it, as well.
Tom Postilio and Mickey Conlon are leading real estate brokers serving the Manhattan luxury home market. If you are interested in buying or selling in New York’s most desirable neighborhoods, contact Tom & Mickey today for a private consultation.