September 2 2025 17:45
This is a guest piece by Chas Everitt International
Berry Everitt, Chas Everitt International CEO
Global wealth is on the move as high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs) relocate from longstanding wealth strongholds to other countries in increasing numbers, and there are three main factors currently motivating them to do so, the Chas Everitt group says.
Berry Everitt, CEO of the Chas Everitt International property group, spoke about the luxury property market contained in this year’s Africa Wealth Report.
“These three factors are quality of life, new economic opportunities and favourable tax rules – and via our affiliation to the Leading Real Estate Companies of the World® (LeadingRE) global network, we can clearly see them at work in the new wealth hubs that are emerging now, and more specifically in the luxury property markets in those countries,” he said.
Everitt, who is also a director on the LeadingRE Global Advisory Board, said wealth is noticeably migrating currently to the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Singapore and Switzerland, but more surprisingly, also to Italy, Greece, Canada and Australia, all of which are actively promoting their attractions to millionaires and billionaires, in awareness of the capital these HNWIs will inject into their economies.
“Meanwhile, the first two factors prompting millionaires to move: lifestyle and new business opportunities are also at work in Africa, as is clearly evident if one tracks the current wealth flows across the continent and their effects on luxury property demand, development and prices in certain cities and other affluent nodes,” he said.
Figures from the Africa Wealth Report show that South Africa has 3700 more resident millionaires this year than it did last year, Everitt notes. “However, they are not necessarily living in the financial heartland of Gauteng as one might expect.
“Indeed, the Western Cape now has a higher HNWI population than Gauteng, with 17 300 millionaires spread between Cape Town, the Winelands, the Whale Coast, and the Garden Route, compared to approximately 14 000 who live in Johannesburg and Pretoria. Notably, the southern region is also home to 65 of South Africa’s 112 centi-millionaires and six of its eight billionaires,” Everitt said.
He said this wealth redistribution has developed over many years, starting with the “semigration” of affluent families from Gauteng and other parts of the country to the Western Cape in pursuit of the comparatively better quality of life the province offers.
“The rise of remote working during the Covid-19 pandemic accelerated this trend, which has lately been further underpinned by the growing international recognition of Cape Town, in particular, as one of the best cities in the world to live in, which has led to more international HNWI families joining their South African counterparts in the ‘Mother City’, and to a growing shortage of luxury homes for sale in high-demand areas like the Atlantic Seaboard and Constantia,” Everitt said.
Prices in these areas soared and that led, in turn, to buyers broadening their search to other parts of the province that also offer exceptional lifestyle advantages. These include the Whale Coast and its central town of Hermanus, where property sales have doubled in the past five years and the average home price has risen by 75%, and the Winelands, where prices in luxury wellness estates like Val de Vie have almost tripled since 2020.
Everitt said other millionaire hotspots in the Western Cape included George and Plettenberg Bay on the Garden Route along the southern coast.
“Unfortunately, the quality of life for residents of Johannesburg and Pretoria has continued to decline in the past year owing to deteriorating transport, electricity and water infrastructures, poor municipal management and relatively high crime levels. Not surprisingly, this has resulted in prime property prices in Central Sandton stagnating at around USD 1800 per m2, while those in Cape Town have soared over the past five years to reach USD 5800 per m2,” said Everitt.
“This has also led to new residential development in Johannesburg being largely restricted, currently, to the conversion of under-utilised office blocks and office parks into rental apartments, while Cape Town enjoys a development boom that is bringing hundreds of new, upmarket housing options to the market,” he said.
It is important to note, though, that Johannesburg does have several things in its favour, including one of the best climates in the world and much lower prices for luxury properties, he says.
“It also remains the home of most of South Africa’s blue-chip companies and is regarded by an increasing number of local and foreign investors as a good launchpad for businesses targeting Africa’s new and lucrative markets. Consequently, it very much meets the second key relocation driver, fresh business opportunity, and may well manage to hang on to its position as Africa’s wealthiest city in the years ahead if local authorities can follow through on their recently-begun renewal activities,” Everitt said.
Beyond South Africa, two other African locations are rapidly gaining traction in the luxury property space. These are Mauritius and Morocco, which the Africa Wealth Report 2025 highlights as having the fastest millionaire growth in Africa over the past decade, said Everitt.
“The Indian Ocean island of Mauritius is now home to 4800 millionaires, a large percentage of them South Africans who have relocated for both lifestyle and tax reasons. Most have bought property in upscale, gated developments around Tamarin on the island’s west coast, where prices average USD 4500 per m2, and many have also moved their businesses to Mauritius to benefit from its low-tax environment.
Morocco, meanwhile, is increasingly seen as the northern gateway to Africa, especially by European and Middle Eastern investors also looking to tap into Africa’s growth and infrastructure development under the burgeoning African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA). It offers them political stability, strategic geography and strong infrastructure – including high-speed rail – plus tax-free export zones, and with 7500 millionaires, Morocco is now the continent’s third-biggest wealth hub after South Africa and Egypt.
“In addition, Tangier, with its strategic location as the closest African port to Europe, is currently experiencing the highest luxury property demand in Morocco and prices of around USD 1700 per m2, which makes it one of the 10 most expensive cities in Africa,” said Everitt.
247@propertyflash.co.za
