views from affluent & hIGH net worth individuals in THE UK, US anD FRANCE

Release date: July 2023

THE POPULATION

This short report looks at affluent trends and plans relating to real estate and housing. The survey was completed by just over 100 respondents in the UK, US and France in March 2023, and was balanced 56:44 female:male. In age terms, one-third were aged 18-42, 47% between 43 and 58-yrs, and 20% over the age of 58. When converted to USD, the sample had a high median household income of just over $500,000 and median level of investible assets at just under $4m.

Three-quarters on more than one property.

The majority of affluent/HNWIs in the UK, US and China have more than one property. Across the total sample, only 23% say that they do not have any additional properties, rising to 30% in in the US. There is a broadly similar pattern of ownership across the three countries surveyed, with around one-third having one additional property, one-quarter having two, and one-in-five having three or more. Wealthy Americans are the least likely to have three or more additional properties (14%).

Figure 1: “How many additional properties do you own (not including your primary home, either in your home country or overseas)?”

Back to Top

Half of affluent/HNW Americans own at least one property worth more than $1m

Among affluent/HNW Americans, half say that they have at least one property worth more than $1 million. This figure falls back to 45% among affluent/HNW Brits with £1m+ properties and 36% among affluent/HNW French for those with €1 million+ properties. In all three countries, most of these property owners have just the one property in this high-value tier.

Affluent/HNW Americans are the most likely to own more than properties in the sub-1 million tier, with almost half (47%) owning property in both of the $0-500,000 and $500,000-1m price brackets. These numbers fall to around one-third respectively in the UK and France.

Figure 2: “In total, how many properties do you own in each of the following value ranges

Back to Top

Half (47%) of affluent/HNWIs planning to buy a new property within next year

Overall, just over one-third of the sample say that they are planning to buy a new domestic-based property within the next year, rising highest in France (43%). Overseas property investment is also popular, with 28% planning to do so within the next year, rising to one-third of affluent/HNW Brits and French but falling back to just 16% of Americans. There remains a degree of uncertainty around property investing, with around one in five unsure, or preferring not to state, their imminent plans.

Figure 3: “Are you planning to buy any new properties either in your home country or overseas within the next 12 months?”

Of those planning to buy a new property within the next year, cities and large towns lead the way, with 49% planning a purchase here. In the immediate aftermath of the Covid pandemic, many house-buyers took part in the ‘race for space’ as more space and privacy in quieter locations became prized. Around half of affluent/HNWIs say that Covid has influenced their choice of location when buying property, with one-third of French respondents stating a significant impact (see Fig. 5 below).

However, there now appears to be a regrowth in popularity of urban centres, especially in France where 56% of affluent house-buyers are looking to buy in a city/large town. Meanwhile, medium and small towns are the most popular option among wealthy Americans (46%), albeit less so among French (29%) and particularly Brits (12%). Buying in cities/towns now appears to be much more popular than countryside/rural or village locations, with only one in five planning to buy here.

Figure 4: “Where are you looking to purchase your property/properties?”

Figure 5: “Has the Covid pandemic influenced your choice of location when buying property?”

Only one in five affluent/HNWIs planning to sell any property within next year

Only one in five affluent/HNWIs are planning to dispose of a property within the next year, with 21% planning to do so within their own country and 4% for an overseas residence. There is in fact very little difference between the three countries, with around two-thirds not planning any sales within their property portfolio (and as seen in Fig. 3, many are planning to expand). There is again a degree of uncertainty, with around one in five being unsure, or unwilling to state, their selling strategy for the year ahead.

Figure 6: “Are you planning to sell any of your properties either in your home country or overseas within the next 12 months?”

Space and safety are key priorities for affluent/HNWIs

From a list of various features, our affluent/HNW sample were asked to select up to five of the most important factors when buying a property. Overall, space is a clear priority in all three countries as expected, with the number of rooms/internal space (57%) and outside space (50%) both of high importance. Safety of the area/neighbourhood is also among the most important features, especially in the US (65% vs 54% average).

Affluent/HNW Americans are also significantly more likely than Brits/French to identify the current condition and age of the house, as well as its proximity to local services such as schools as key considerations. For wealthy Brits, proximity to local facilities such as restaurants is particularly important when choosing where to buy a house, as well as having off-street parking. The response among wealthy French respondents broadly falls near or behind the average on most of the features apart from curb appeal, where it is considerably higher (46% vs 26% average).

Various factors such as sustainability, proximity to their job and health/sports facilities are cited by 10-20% of respondents as key factors. This is not to say that they are irrelevant, but instead that they are somewhat less important than the aforementioned factors in the decision-making process.

Figure 7: “Please select up to 5 of the most important factors which you consider when buying a property.”

This is part of our ongoing series of short category reports which are intended to provide an up-to-date snapshot on some of the key trends in luxury and wealth. For more information on this study or any other research requirements, please contact us at reports@altiant.com. .

Contributors

Chris Wisson, Knowledge Director

Meryam Schneider, VP

Contact

reports@altiant.com

ABOUT ALTIANT

Altiant is a specialised fieldwork company which enables large scale, global research among affluent consumers/High Net Worth Individuals (HNWIs) in 15+ countries worldwide.

By servicing dozens of the world’s top luxury and wealth brands, Altiant helps renowned brands and their research agencies to answer critical questions among this very hard-to-reach demographic. We ensure that all of our survey respondents are genuinely affluent by having their identities verified and wealth levels validated.

Altiant is a corporate member of ESOMAR, the World’s leading association for standards & Ethics within market research. Altiant adheres to, and abids by their strict guidelines governing the best practice in the industry.

Publications contained in the Altiant Knowledge Center are free to use, we simply require proper attribution. In no event shall Altiant be liable for any indirect, special or consequential damages in connection with any use of the provided data. Altiant does prohibit the selling of any information contained within or derived from these reports and monitors.