Real estate helps Florida ultra-rich total rise 12%
The United States has the largest number of ultra-rich residents in the world – three and a half times more than its nearest rival, recent data shows.
A major contributor to that total is Florida, which increased its number of Ultra High Net Worth Individuals (UHNWIs) – those that are worth more than $30million – by 12% in 2014, the fifth biggest rise in the United States.
And the growth of the real estate sector in the Sunshine State is one of the main reasons for the additional numbers of ultra-rich, according to the World Ultra Wealth Report 2014 from Singapore-based research specialist, Wealth-X and Swiss-based financial services company, UBS.
Garrett Kenny, Chief Executive Officer of leading Florida real estate developer and agency, the Feltrim Group says, “Where better to invest your capital? Not only have residential median prices risen for coming up to three years in Florida now, but there’s no better place to settle and do business in the United States.
“Florida has a wide choice of residential and commercial property schemes providing competitive returns for both wealthy investors and with smaller budgets and Feltrim advises many wealthy buyers from within the US and overseas.”
Altogether, the United States boasts the highest number of UHNWIs at 69,560 who together have a record-breaking total wealth of $9,66trillion, way ahead of any other country. Germany is in second place with 19,095 UHNWIs worth $2.5trillion. The US super-rich population total rose 6.2% year-on-year, just above average, and the wealth total was up 6%, slightly down on the 7% annual gain.
All but 7,500 of the nation’s most wealthy live in the top 25 states, which includes Florida in fourth place, with 4,710 ultra-high-net-worth individuals, up by almost 500 this year thanks to powerful growth in the real estate and financial sectors, says the report.
Top of the list is California, with 13,445 UHNWIs, followed by New York at 9,530 and Texas in third with 6,510.
University of Central Florida economist Sean Snaith says the ranks of the wealthy in the state are being boosted by wealthy Brazilians and other foreign nations into South Florida because it has no-income tax and the blossoming of the stock market has increased the value of the portfolios of many already-wealthy retirees.