Rich and under 40: growing rank of multimillionaires bodes well for digital ownership of property, Knight Frank report says

In Hong Kong, the pool of ultra high-net-worth individuals expanded by 11 per cent to 7,593 in 2021; some 30 per cent of them were under 40

Knight Frank expects that to increase by 26 per cent in Hong Kong and 42 per cent in mainland China by 2026

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Properties along a rather busy street in metaverse conceptual reality. Photo: Shutterstock

Published: 8:30am, 1 Mar 2022Updated: 2:08pm, 8 Mar 2022

The number of multimillionaires in Hong Kong expanded last year at a faster clip than the global average, a trend that is likely to support demand for tokenisation and digital ownership of property, according to a Knight Frank survey.

The pool of so-called ultra high-net-worth individuals (UHNWIs) in the city grew 11 per cent to 7,593, of which 30 per cent were under 40, the property consultancy said in its Wealth Report published on Tuesday.

Globally, the size increased by 9.3 per cent to 610,568 with people below 40 making up a fifth of them. The number in China increased by 6 per cent in 2021 to 93,854, with 29 per cent of them below 40.

The survey counted people in 100 cities with at least US$30 million of wealth including their primary residences, and estimated for the first time the rank of so-called next-generation UHNWIs and what that could mean for the property market and their investment preferences.

Pedestrians cross Queen’s Road Central in the Central in Hong Kong. The rich has 27 per cent of their wealth invested in real estate. Photo: Bloomberg

“Digital real estate will become just as important as physical assets over the next decade,” the report cited Julie Gauthier, investment director of Stonehage Fleming, as saying. “We have seen a big increase in real estate developers looking at tokenising properties and allowing investors to invest in those tokens,” he added.

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