NEW YORK ? Despite stock market volatility, geopolitical instability and new regulations, prime residential real estate still has a good outlook, according to panelists speaking at a presentation of Douglas Elliman and Knight Frank?s The Wealth Report 2016.
Oil prices have plummeted, governments and the IMF are tracking the flow and origin of incoming money and many assets have had negligible appreciation in the past year. Nevertheless, a look at recent history and wealth projections show that a bet on long-term growth and on real estate, as well as classic cars, is a safe one.
?The people who lost 30 percent in the market [when the Shanghai Stock Exchange and Chinese real estate fell] didn?t want to lose the other 70 percent,? said Howard M. Lorber, CEO of Douglas Elliman. ?They wanted to as quickly as money out and moved it here, so we saw an uptick in those type of buyers. ?The turmoil creates a need to go to safe havens, and there is no better safe haven than right here,? he said.
Homes and automobiles

Over the past 10 years, the number of individuals with at least $30 million has grown 61 percent, with a projected increase of 41 percent over the next 10 years (see story). Although the increase is smaller in percentage terms, the higher base means that the absolute increase, currently projected at 80,000, is higher.
13 Downing Street, NY listed by Douglas Elliman
Every asset class with the exception of furniture has seen positive growth in recent years with Chinese ce...