Capital Concentration

Property values continue to escalate wildly in the global gateways as the wealthy and ultra-wealthy look to park money in the world’s perceived safest and most stable places—on the top tier that means London and New York, but the effect in the U.S. extends from San Francisco and districts in Los Angeles to the Miami waterfront.

In a coop building I am familiar with in New York along one of Manhattan’s most desirable avenues—a “classic six” room prewar apartment (high ceilings, “white-glove” building) never lost value during the recession when it was purchased for approximately $2 million. Now after a short-time on the market it will fetch a nearly $4 million price in a timely sale.  Okay, so the owner did an upgrade, but most of the recent appreciation in the unit can be credited pure-and-simple to outsized capital demand for the best assets in the best districts of the best cities. Conservatively apartments in this building have tripled in value over the past 15 years with the latest price pop coming in the past six to 12 months. For owners in buildings like this, the paper wealth gains are as staggering as at any time during their holding periods.