The cities in South Africa where billionaires pay up to R100,000 per sqm for apartments

South Africa is home to five of the ten most expensive areas for billionaires across Africa.

According to the latest Centi-Millionaire Report 2023 by Henley & Partners and New World Wealth, there are currently 28,420 centi-millionaires – those with investable assets of $100 million (R1.9 billion) or more – across the globe.

This is more than double the amount from 20 years ago and a 12% increase from last year’s inaugural report.

Looking at a country level, most centi-millionaires are found in the USA (38%), with China and India following.

One-third of the world’s centi-millionaires live in 50 key cities across the globe, with nearly 800 calling New York City home.

Dr. Juerg Steffen, CEO of Henley & Partners, said that $100 million or more must be acquired to be considered super wealthy today.

“Not long ago, in the late 1990s, $30 million was considered by most banks as the fortune that was needed to meet this status. However, asset prices have risen significantly since then, making $100 million the new benchmark,” Steffen said.

Andrew Amoils, Head of Research at New World Wealth, added that “in many emerging market countries, there are very few billionaires, making the wealth band largely irrelevant. However, these nations often have large centi-millionaire populations.”

“Kenya, for instance, has no billionaires but 15 centi-millionaires, while South Africa has just 5 (US Dollar) billionaires compared to 102 centi-millionaires. Therefore, the centi-millionaire wealth band is a far more accurate reflection of the ‘super-wealthy’ community in these countries.”

Although South Africa and other African cities have far smaller centi-millionaire populations, Henley and Partners listed the ten most expensive cities for centi-millionaires in Africa when looking at the average square metre price of a prime 200 to 400 square meter apartment in a city/town.

Looking at the data, Cape Town is the most expensive city for centi-millionaires at $5,200/sqm (R100,000/sqm).

Cape Town, alongside Marrakech, is also on Henley & Partner’s list of cities with significant seasonal variations of centi-millionaires, with over 100 centi-millionaires having second homes in the area, whilst only 25 are permanent residents.

Hermanus and Plettenberg Bay are tied for the second most expensive areas for centi-millionaires in Africa at $2,200/sqm (R42,000/sqm)

Marrakech and Umhlanga are tied for fourth at $2,000/sqm ( R38,000/sqm), whilst Cental Sandton is sixth at $1,800/sqm (R34,000/sqm).

Below are the 10 most expensive cities for centi-millionaires in Africa:

However, it should be noted that African real estate is far cheaper than in some international cities.

For instance, it costs $35,000/sqm (R670,000/sqm) in Monaco. The centi-millionaire hotspot of New York City is $28,500/sqm (R545,000/sqm).

Below are the ten most expensive cities in the world for the centi-millionaires.

Read: South Africa is bleeding millionaires