Venezuelans lead list of those seeking homes abroad

THE NUMBER of Venezuelans hunting for luxury homes around the world jumped by a greater degree than any country last year as political uncertainty escalated in the South American country, a report from property consultant Knight Frank shows.

The 123 percent increase of searches from Venezuela was ahead of Brazil in second place with an 81 percent rise, according to the company’s Wealth Report, which for the first time tracked users of its website, where homes can cost up to £100 million (R1.3 billion).

Knight Frank has 1.2 million visits to its website each month and the share of traffic from South America grew by 178 percent between 2011 and 2012 although the region still represented less than 10 percent of the total, the company said.

Venezuela’s socialist president, Hugo Chavez, died from cancer on Tuesday after a 14-year reign that polarised his nation. While he was adored by many of the poor for his humble roots, earthy rhetoric and oil-financed welfare policies, he was a hate-figure for opponents who viewed him as a dictatorial leader who stamped on opponents and ruined the economy, prompting thousands to leave the country.

“The statistics are no surprise at all,” Diego Moya-Ocampos, a Venezuela political risk analyst at IHS Global-Insight, said before Chavez’s death. “Venezuelans perceive there will be more of the same after Chavez as polls indicate Vice-President Nicolas Maduro will be his successor.

“The other reason is the country is now the single most murderous in South America and the kidnap rate is high,” he said, naming Miami, the Dominican Republic and Spanish capital Madrid as popular destinations.

Elsewhere, political uncertainty in north Africa and the Middle East drove money into Dubai and pushed up prices for the best homes by 20 percent.

The jump placed it third on a list of global price rises for high-end homes headed by Jakarta (38 percent) and Bali (20 percent) in Indonesia.

Monaco retained its crown as the most expensive place by floor area to buy a home, followed by Hong Kong and London. Buyers would get more than five times as much floor space for the same money in Mumbai, India, as Monaco and more than 10 times more in Cape Town, South Africa. – Reuters