Millionaire “Square Miles” Where Home Prices Are Soaring

By Kate Walsh | August 23, 2021

What happens when you put a bunch of millionaires together on the same strip of land?

Simple: you get soaring home prices. Everyone wants to live in the same place, pushing up the desirability of properties to astronomical levels. 

What’s interesting about these millionaire enclaves is how they all depend on who is around. You can often find the same style of homes fifty miles away at nearly a 50 percent discount on the asking price. 

So where are these “millionaire square miles?” Let’s take a look. 

London

When it comes to wealthy individuals, London is a world leader. The British capital has more than 350,000 people with net worths of over $1 million and a further 5,000 people worth $25 million or more. 

London is widely described as the world’s alpha city. It is the centre of the world’s political and financial world order and is a hub for those with high net worths. The majority of extremely wealthy people in the city work in its finance industry, but others make their fortune in retail, media, technology and real estate. 

New York

 

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New York comes in a close second to London in terms of its millionaire count. It has around 340,000 people with net worths more than $1 million. However, the metro area has nearly double the population, making millionaires rarer here per capita than in London. 

COVID damaged New York’s total wealth during 2020 quite considerably. However, the city is bouncing back and now many of its wealthiest inhabitants are returning to do business once more. 

New York has always been a home to millionaires with more than 4,000 in the city by 1890. Many of the wealthy live in luxury apartments in midtown and around Central Park. Some residents are also moving to the Hudson Yards development for the exceptional views the location provides. 

Tokyo

Tokyo is home to some of the highest home prices in the world. The city is home to some 30 million people, 280,000 of which have millionaire status.

In Tokyo, however, super wealthy individuals tend to mask their wealth, instead of flaunting it. So you won’t see people trying to dress in a certain way to stand out from the crowd.

Many people who live in the city tend to spend their money on fine wines and art. They don’t necessarily take on western culture. 

Hong Kong

Hong Kong is one of the most impressive cities in the world and, as you might guess, home to many millionaires. The city is teeming with skyscrapers that hug the mountains on the island. 

Hong Kong’s super wealthy typically purchase high-rise apartment buildings, renting out entire floors. Many of the city’s residential blocks look quite plain on the outside, but are incredibly luxurious on the interior. 

The Hong Kong millionaire club used to be quite exclusive. But with the explosion of wealth in the city over the last couple of decades, it is becoming more commonplace. 

San Francisco

San Francisco was always a wealthy city. But recently, it has seen an explosion in the number of luxury homes due to newly-created Silicon Valley wealth. The city clusters around a large harbor and stretches off into the hills beyond. This gives it a village-like feel, even though it is home to more than two million people. There are also plenty of attractions and sights here that draw people from all over the world, most notably the Golden Gate Bridge. 

San Francisco, however, is a city at risk. If the San Andreas fault were to shift suddenly, it could severely damage the settlement and require years of rebuilding. 

Chicago

Chicago is still a jewel of the midwest. This vast metropolis is home to more than 130,000 millionaires at the last count. However, it is becoming more challenging for people to make their millions than in the past. 

Home prices here are high in the downtown area. Residents are willing to pay a premium to live in luxury apartment buildings that overlook the lake. Prices aren’t going up as fast as they are in places like San Francisco, but they are rising, mainly because of the influx of wealthy people. 

Home prices, therefore, aren’t rising evenly across the globe. (In some places, they aren’t even going up at all). However, there are millionaire enclaves where figures just keep going up and up. What’s more, these locations appear to be becoming more established as hubs over time. In other words, it looks like prices are locked in – great news for investors.