One South African city is a favourite among global millionaires

Cape Town is one of the favourite holiday destinations for global centi-millionaires, with over 150 members of the world elite either living there or having a second home there. 

Henley & Partners revealed this in its Centi-Millionaire Report for 2024. The report revealed that there are currently 29,350 individuals with assets worth over $100 million. 

The company partnered with wealth intelligence firm New World Wealth to produce the report and tracked where centi-millionaires live and how they spend their time. 

One segment of the report focused on where centi-millionaires travel for a holiday based on data collected on the seasonal variations of millionaire inhabitants. 

Cities in the United States dominated the list, with traditional holiday spots for the wealthy, such as The Hamptons, Aspen, and Palm Beach, featuring in the top 20 cities. 

Miami retained its spot as the number one holiday destination for millionaires, with over 650 centi-millionaires being residents or having a second home in the city. 

Cape Town and Marrakech were the only two African cities to make the cut. Both show promising signs of growth that Henley & Partners expects to continue. 

Over 100 centi-millionaires have a second home in Cape Town, with the city only featuring 28 permanent residents of the global elite. 

The city’s popularity among the wealthy elite has made it the most expensive city in Africa, with prime residential spaces valued at $5,600/m². 

Barry Everitt, CEO of Chas Everitt, described Africa, and South Africa in particular, as a rising star in the global luxury real estate sector. 

“In contrast to other major economic blocs, the continent has a mostly young and rapidly growing population and a very fast rate of urbanisation,” he said. 

“This is already generating significant demand for services and products and pulling in an increasing number of wealthy individuals who are finding lucrative opportunities in the local economy.” 

In turn, this boosts the price of local property, Everitt said. 

Pam Golding Property Group CEO Andrew Golding echoed Everitt’s sentiment, saying the company has seen a significant uptick in the luxury housing market in Cape Town over the past year. 

Golding explained that South Africa’s luxury property market has shown remarkable resilience in the face of the country’s difficult economic environment. 

Low stock levels across the country partly drive this strength, but Cape Town, in particular, has seen its luxury properties snapped up, placing upward pressure on prices. 

Cape Town’s property prices have also been driven up by increased semigration within South Africa from the country’s northern areas down to the coast. 

While Johannesburg remains the leader in Africa in terms of the number of millionaires who live in the city, Cape Town is quickly catching up. 

However, there is also a risk of the city becoming saturated, pushing the wealthy elite to look beyond it for exclusivity. 

Everitt said this can be seen in the rise in popularity of areas such as the Cape Winelands and towns along the Garden Route. 

“We find that our southbound HNWI clients are now often eschewing Cape Town in favour of Hermanus in the Whale Coast, Mossel Bay, and Plettenberg Bay in the Garden Route,” he said. 

The table below shows the top five most popular holiday destinations for centi-millionaires in comparison to Cape Town’s ranking.

Ranking	City	Centi-millionaire residents and second homeowners
1	Miami, USA	650+
2	The Hamptons, USA	600+
3	Liguria, Italy	550+
4	Nice, France	500+
5	Palm Beach, USA	400+
13	Cape Town, South Africa	150+