Rising wealth taxes and political rhetoric are triggering unprecedented ultra-mobility among the world’s wealthiest – and the implications for developers, investors and the cities competing for their attention run deeper than any headline about capital flight.
This is a structural shift in how wealth operates, and it is changing what super-prime property needs to be.
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The numbers first. Between 2021 and 2026, the global UHNWI population rose from 551,435 to 713,626 – 89 people crossing the $30 million threshold every single day. At first glance, this signals a significant expansion of where the wealthy live.
What changed alongside that growth is the way these individuals distribute themselves across jurisdictions. And the change is not driven by a loss of conviction, but by a reduction in time spent in one place. Shorter stays translate into smaller allocations.
Welcome to the new mainstream UHNW purchasing behaviour – on global prime markets are still adjusting to. It’s the age of the “dip-in, dip-out” billionaire.
Is the primary residence coming to an end?
As UHNWIs increasingly spend fewer than 90 days a year in traditional hubs, their property requirements are scaling down accordingly.
In practical terms, this means buyers who once allocated $30 to $50 million to a principal London residence are now targeting around $15 million for something more functional – well-located, fully managed and immediately occupiable.
The shift is visible at the deal level. Rupert des Forges, Knight Frank’s Head of Prime Central London Developments, describes London as now a “dip-in, dip-out city”: his clients remain deeply connected to the capital socially and professionally, but are unwilling to base themselves here because the tax framework no longer works for them.
“Renting suits many wealthy buyers currently in a holding pattern, as well as those concerned with the medium-term clarity around taxation and the geopolitical landscape,” des Forges said. “This fever at the top end of the rental market underpins the point that people are not leaving London in droves. They might not be buying in the way they used to, but they’re not leaving.”
As des Forges pointed out, schedules for the rich today are much more fluid – “You fly into London on Tuesday morning and back to Milan, Lisbon, Madrid or Paris on Wednesday evening,” – but this doesn’t necessarily signal a loss of conviction in London as an asset destination.
The UK’s capital still is a significant centrifugal force, des Forges adds: “The capital might not be their full-time base any more but it is still an anchor for social and business life; the city remains important to them.”
Flexibility is the priority. In practical terms that means turnkey residences for the ultra-wealthy who might stay a month, a fortnight or less – people for whom the world’s largest financial centre functions comfortably as a short-term base.
Allocation then, is being concentrated around assets that can be used immediately and without complication.
Why the shift now?
Three forces have converged to make this the dominant model of UHNW living, rather than an outlier behaviour.
Taxes and anti-wealth rhetoric have become a structural theme shaping residential markets across established western wealth hubs. Non-dom reforms in the UK have pushed mobile capital towards Monaco, Italy, the UAE, Switzerland and elsewhere.
The direction of travel is legible well before the legislation arrives – which suits UHNW families who price in the next five years, not just today.
According to Henley & Partners’ 2025 Wealth Migration Report, the UK is projected to lose a record 16,500 high-net-worth individuals in 2025 – the steepest net millionaire outflow ever recorded from any country, driven in large part by the abolition of the non-dom regime and inheritance tax reforms enacted in April 2025.
The precise figure has attracted methodological debate, but the directional signal is not seriously contested: private banks, law firms and wealth managers are all reporting materially increased enquiries about emigration, tax domicile restructuring and alternative jurisdictions.
Technology, meanwhile, has removed the friction from running a global business across multiple jurisdictions.
According to Knight Frank’s Head of Private Office Paddy Dring, his clients have an “almost nomadic ability to switch from one location to another.” Private jets and superyachts, he notes, now offer communication and operational capabilities to rival a six-star hotel.
And the family office has professionalised the whole operation. The most sophisticated families now divide their wealth across multiple offices – typically the Americas, Europe and Asia-Pacific – driven by a profound need for security and the rule of law.
Multi-hub living is no longer a logistical challenge. For this cohort, it is the standard operating model.
Where this creates mispricing
The adjustment is not uniform across asset types. Properties designed for long-term occupation are still priced on assumptions of permanence. But that assumption is weakening, and in some cases, it is no longer aligned with buyer behaviour.
Larger houses in core markets face a smaller pool of relevant buyers. This does not eliminate demand, but it extends transaction timelines and increases sensitivity to pricing.
Assets that require refurbishment present a different issue. Time has become a constraint. Buyers are less willing to manage planning risk or construction delays for properties they will use intermittently.
High-value apartments without integrated services also sit in an uncertain position. Location remains important, but on its own it is no longer sufficient to secure liquidity at the top end.
By contrast, properties that can be occupied immediately and managed externally are attracting more consistent demand. The pricing gap between these categories is beginning to widen.
The new super-prime winners
Ultra-mobility does not distribute demand evenly. Certain asset types are structurally better positioned for a buyer whose relationship with any given city is measured in days per quarter rather than months per year. They include:
Turnkey stock
Commands a genuine and widening premium. Across New York, London, Los Angeles and Sydney, affluent buyers are increasingly unwilling to absorb renovation risk amid rising construction costs, planning delays and regulatory friction. Well-priced, move-in-ready homes attract intense competition and transact quickly – after all, it makes little sense to commission an interior overhaul in a city they’ll occupy for just 40 days a year.
Super-prime rentals
Lettings have moved from a fallback strategy to a deliberate one. With buyers reluctant to incur stamp duty or mansion taxes on properties they will use only a few days each month, many mobile UHNWIs are opting for exceptionally high-end rental arrangements. Top-end rents in New York, London and Singapore have risen 63%, 53% and 48% respectively over the past five years, according to Knight Frank.
Private members' clubs
These clubs become residential infrastructure rather than social amenities. When the wealthy are in a city for just 48 hours of dealmaking and relationship maintenance, a club provides a ready-made operational base. The club boom that took hold in London and New York is now spreading to Miami, Milan, Singapore and beyond.
Branded residences
This is the sector’s true structural growth story. Scarcity of completed stock and global wealth growth are driving rapid expansion – Knight Frank projects more than 1,000 live schemes worldwide by 2030, a figure corroborated by Savills’ own branded residences data, which shows the sector will reach approximately 910 by end of 2025, with a further 837 contracted projects already in the pipeline through 2032.
Savills also reports that branded residences command an average 30% price premium over comparable non-branded properties – reaching up to 40% in markets such as Dubai. The sector is evolving beyond traditional hotel partnerships, promising more than just the name above the door – it’s about what the name guarantees.
The cities that understand this
Geography matters, but not in the way it once did. Dubai feels, as one family office interviewee told Knight Frank, like “the” corridor through which global wealth is flowing – a function of its connectivity and pro-business environment. Dubai recorded 500 home sales above $10 million in 2025, up from just 113 in 2021.
Abu Dhabi is emerging as the quieter alternative, drawing ultra-wealthy families seeking the UAE’s economic advantages at a less frenetic pace.
Miami has graduated from sunbelt retreat to genuine international business hub, recording $3 billion in super-prime sales in 2025 and being actively rewired as a tech and finance centre by high-profile domestic buyers.
Tokyo’s top-tier new-build apartment market surged 58.5% in 2025, driven by scarcity, low interest rates and strong inbound demand from across Asia-Pacific – a market now firmly on the dip-in map.
Mumbai and Brisbane represent the emerging arc: cities where domestic wealth creation and improving infrastructure are pulling serious UHNW attention for the first time.
Capital is moving towards cities that minimise friction across entry, operation and exit.
What this means for London
London’s situation is more nuanced than the headline numbers suggest. In Q4 2025, there were just 35 deals above $10 million in the capital, placing London seventh globally, behind Sydney, Miami and Singapore.
Pre-conflict Dubai, by contrast, recorded 143 deals worth $2.5 billion in the same period, up 39% quarter-on-quarter. The more telling signal, however, is what is not happening. Owners are not selling in large numbers.
Agents report that purchasers who might once have sought a grand house are now more likely to opt for an apartment, sized and serviced for how much time they actually intend to spend there. The asset class retains its conviction. The terms of engagement have changed.
London remains the world’s third-largest city region economy, and the scale and multifaceted nature of activity across the capital is exceptionally hard to replicate elsewhere.
The rule of law, the time zone, the cultural infrastructure, the financial ecosystem – none of that has moved. What has changed is the premium attached to full-time residency. London is being repriced as a tier-one node among global portfolios, rather than the main anchor of one.
The signal for developers and investors
Mobility demands properties that function effortlessly. When a buyer touches down on a Tuesday morning, they want the fridge stocked, the heating on and the concierge waiting – service now beats square footage.
Flexibility beats legacy layouts. Managed stock beats anything that requires the owner’s attention from four time zones away.
The dip-in, dip-out billionaire is not a problem for the super-prime market. They’re simply a product signal. Buyers now demand more than turnkey luxury – they are willing to pay premiums for curated communities, assured top-tier service, convenience, privacy and high-quality amenities.
The premium is already there for those who have understood this. Turnkey stock sells quickly and above comparable supply. Branded schemes command 30% more than non-branded equivalents in the same market.
The super-prime rental market has re-priced accordingly and none of that is noise – it’s the market describing, in the only language that matters, what the mobile buyer actually needs.
Everything else is a pitch to someone who has already moved on.
