Rusia could have 76% more centa-millionaires in 5 yrs - experts
MOSCOW. March 28 (Interfax) - Russia could have 76% more centa-millionaires - people with liquid assets of $100 million or over - in five years, says The Wealth Report 2012, compiled Knight Frank and Citi Private Bank.
Ledbury Research says that Russia had 2,100 centa-millionaires when the survey was carried out, in the fourth quarter of 2011.
The world had 63,000, and these are forecast to grow 37% to 86,000 in five years.
Russians are currently top of the list of buyers of buyers of second homes abroad, the survey says, followed by citizens of Hong Kong and Britain. Wealthy Russians were generally more active buyers of real abroad than people from Hong Kong, Britain, France and other regions. The tendency is set to continue in 2012.
For the first time, investment in bonds grew then most last year, up 65%, followed by cash (+60%). Even so, global growth of 19% for investment in elite real estate makes this a key element of investment portfolios.
Selim Elgen, head of Citi Private Bank in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, told reporters that real estate, both residential and commercial, currently had a 16% share of the investment portfolios of Russia's centa-millionaires.
"Elite real estate prices grew 9.8% in Moscow and 4% in St Petersburg in 2011, and the average cost per square meter of elite housing in Moscow was $24,000 and that in St Petersburg was $20,200," said Yelena Yurgeneva, regional manager for residential real estate in Russia and the CIS at Knight Frank.
Undersupply was still one of the factors that drove elite real estate prices up in Moscow in 2011, she said.
"Our client's portfolio usually starts with an apartment in central Moscow, followed by a home outside the city in a prestigious district, then an apartment in London, a house by the sea and property at a ski resort. Demand for ski resorts is on the up. Centa-millionaires and billionaires usually invest upwards of $20 million in real estate," Yurgeneva said.