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Shanghai the Most Expensive Place to Be Rich in Asia
Oct 6, 2016 3:54 pm HKT
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Despite a broad economic slowdown in the region, it’s getting more expensive to be rich in Asia.
Just how expensive? Cigars cost 7.6% more this year than last while the price of ladies’ shoes has risen 4.9% and golf club memberships by 4%, according to a report from Swiss private bank Julius Baer. Their annual Lifestyle Index ranks the costliest cities in Asia for luxury goods and services for high-net-worth individuals, or those with more than 1 million dollars to spare.
Among 11 Asian cities, Shanghai remains the priciest. Singapore, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Taipei round out the top-five, in that order.
While a sluggish economy and campaign against conspicuous spending have hit everything from high-end jewelry to sports cars in China, they haven’t dented the prices of some lux items in Shanghai. The Chinese financial capital is the most expensive in Asia this year for botox, hospital services, cigars, watches, and skin-care products. This despite the fact that consumer inflation rose by just 1.3% in August, the smallest rise since last October.
In other words, Shanghai is more expensive than any other city in the region for all goods and services except for legal fees and golf memberships, and in many cases the city is twice as expensive as other cities, the report says.
“Despite long-term and secular worries about excess capacity and a slowdown in productivity, high-net-worth individuals are still spending,” said co-author Stefan Hofer, head of business development for Julius Baer in Japan. Heavy taxes and duties on goods in China also make them relatively more expensive.
“In services, things are getting more expensive and will continue to get more expensive,” said Mr. Hofer.
The prices of luxury goods may be more vulnerable in a slowdown because they are more easily substituted, but luxury services–such as boarding school, hotel suites, and hospitals–are more resilient, according to the report’s authors. Business class flights rose 4.5% on an annual basis, boarding schools by 3.7% and legal fees by 1.6% across the region.
For the professional looking for cheaper tooth implants or botox, head to Mumbai. The Indian city for the second year in a row is the “cheapest” for luxury, ranking the least expensive for hotel suites, ladies’ handbags, men’s suits, tooth implants, cigars and skin care, and the second-cheapest for botox.
One surprising thing this year, the authors say, is the drop in high-end property prices, particularly in Singapore and Jakarta, where prices dropped 26.3% and 10.7% from the year before. This was due to cooling measures such as higher stamp duties, loan restrictions, and tighter mortgage rules. Luxury homes are least expensive in Jakarta, Bangkok and Manila.
Hong Kong, unsurprisingly, holds the dubious honor of having the most expensive luxury homes in Asia, at an average of 41.2 million dollars, down 8.7% from last year, to second-place Shanghai’s 16.6 million dollars, 5.5% lower than last year. The former British colony, with its lower tourist numbers and tapering retail sales, dropped one place in the city-wide rankings to third place for high-net worth spending, while Singapore rose to second place.
For other major purchases: If you’re buying a piano, they cost more in Bangkok than anywhere else in Asia. If you’re planning a wedding, booking a hotel suite, or getting a tooth implant, Tokyo is the most expensive city you could do it in. Golf memberships are most expensive in Manila and least expensive in Jakarta.
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