Richest Indians Prefer Buying Properties In US, UK, Says Knight Frank
Ultra-high-net-worth individuals or some of the richest people in India are buying properties abroad, according to the Attitudes Survey conducted by global real estate consulting firm Knight Frank. The United Kingdom and United States are among the preferred destinations for the ultra-rich Indians to buy real estate. According to the survey, 74 per cent of the respondents prefer United Kingdom (UK) while 39 per cent responded favourably towards United States for buying property.
"US and UK are of high interest for the ultra-rich Indians from business as well as leisure and lifestyle purposes. These also remain the top choices of investment or self -use purchase for the coming years," Knight Frank said in a press release on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Australia is the destination of choice for Asian Ultra-High-Net Worth Individuals (UHNWIs) who plan to buy a new home overseas or invest in property in the coming year, based on a Knight Frank survey of 600 private bankers and wealth advisers who between them manage over US$3 trillion of wealth for UHNWI.
According to the Attitudes Survey in Knight Frank's Wealth Report, 25 per cent of ultra-rich Asians, plan to buy a home outside their country of residence by 2020, higher than the global average of 22 per cent. 18 per cent of ultra-rich Indians showed affinity towards purchasing homes outside of their domicile country.
| Most likely to buy a new home in | Australia | UK | Canada | US | Singapore |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Asian UHNWIs | 45% | 33% | 32% | 31% | 23% |
| Australasian UHNWIs | 39% | 34% | 32% | 27% | 8% |
| Indian UHNWIs | 13% | 74% | 16% | 39% | 19% |
| Global average | 37% | 32% | 19% | 18% | 17% |
| Source: The Wealth Report Attitudes Survey 2019 | |||||
A key driver influencing ultra-rich Asians' decisions to purchase property overseas is education. Australia, the UK, Canada and the US have a high number of top-tier universities, and many UHNWIs send their children abroad for education, the global real estate consulting firm said.
Among ultra-rich Indians, 40 per cent prefer to send their off-spring to foreign locations for their primary and secondary education, while a higher 62 per cent gravitate towards sending their children for higher education.
"Indians are progressively increasing their global footprint with UHNWIs getting attracted to the quality of services in these countries. We have seen a growing trend in purchase of properties amongst India's wealthy across the globe. It would be worthwhile to point out that Indians are contributing significantly to global wealth creation," said Shishir Baijal, Chairman and Managing Director, Knight Frank India.