Posted by Leonard Steinberg on March 7th, 2014

Today the Euro is trading around 1.39 to the dollar and the pound about 1.67, making New York increasingly ‘cheaper’ for the global rich who have grown in numbers over the last year as the world’s economies expand. Those Ultra High Net Worth Individuals whose combined assets exceed $30 million grew by over 3% in 2013 to roughly 168,000 members: their combined assets are worth over $20 TRILLION. HNWI individuals love real estate, and average 2.4 homes per ‘member’….. 30% of their wealth is dedicated to real estate on average.

Monaco, Hong Kong, London, Singapore, Geneva and New York remain among the world’s highest-priced luxury-home markets. While caution among the superrich—invoked by the half-decade-long financial crisis—continued to ease, their money continued to grow. Most significant price gains occurred in the Far East in 2013, although one has to wonder if the huge signed contracts that did not close in 2013 were weighed into this equation. In the US, Los Angeles pricing soared by 14% possibly explaining why New York companies including Douglas Elliman and Nestseekers have recently opened offices there: The Mega-star of TV’s ‘Million Dollar Listing’ Ryan Serhant seems to be spending lots of time in Los Angeles, the first BI-coastal super-broker in New York…..or is he hoping for a huge Hollywood contract of another kind?