Recent reports indicate that Chicago is among the list of the world’s most expensive cities for luxury real estate. Billionaires continue to break records as they purchase mansions, estates, townhomes, and even condos in major housing markets from London to Malibu and all points in between.
Savills, a global real estate firm, recently published their annual World Cities Review report, and in it said, “Global billionaire activity in world real estate markets has been so intense over the last seven years that it has led to a doubling of property values in this sector.”
Known as “billionaire markets,” super luxury real estate markets are one of the fastest growing segments of the entire real estate picture. While the largest increases have been realized in Asian markets like China and Hong Kong, Chicago luxury real estate purchases continue to entice these billionaire buyers as well.
Yolande Barnes, head of world research at Savills, adds, “Billionaire activity has been concentrated on high-end urban centers rather than leisure properties in the surrounding countryside or regional sunbelts. This reflects a global preference for urban locations as these billionaires need to be located in cities where they can do business.”
Unsurprisingly, metros like New York City, London, Tokyo, and Chicago have seen a major uptick in luxury real estate purchases, but emerging markets like Singapore and Mumbai are also making a name for themselves.
Experts say that 2013 will be an interesting year for the billionaire market, as investors’ motivations are starting to shift somewhat. Whereas investors used to purchase Chicago luxury condos as pied-a-terres and long-term investments, now, these same buyers are purchasing luxury properties for their portfolios and renting them out for income. This has been especially true with wealthy Asian buyers in New York City, and South Americans in Miami.
Savillis says that the foreign buyer profile may change even more this year when it comes to luxury real estate. They anticipate that there will be a surge in luxury buyers from Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines instead of India, China, and Singapore.
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