Millionaires Are Moving to These Countries in Droves

The global migration of high-net-worth individuals has expanded this year, with Australia returning as the top migration destination, according to a report Tuesday from Henley & Partners.

Approximately 120,000 of the world’s millionaires moved to a new country in 2023, according to the consultancy firm, which specializes in residence and citizenship by investment. That’s up from 84,000 in 2022 and expected to rise to 128,000 in 2024, the data showed.

Safety, a lower cost of living, favorable tax regimes and a high quality of life are top reasons for high-net-worth individuals to migrate. The top five destinations for high-net-worth individual migration this year include Australia, the United Arab Emirates, Singapore, the U.S. and Switzerland, according to the report, which defines high-net-worth individuals as those with US$1 million or more of investable wealth.

Meanwhile, China, India, the U.K., Russia and Brazil lead the ranking of countries with the most people leaving for other shores.

Roughly 82,000 high-net-worth individuals moved to Australia between 2002 and 2022, with another 5,200 arriving this year, the data showed. The country was also in the top spot between 2015 and 2019.

“Australia consistently attracts sizable numbers of millionaires every year, mainly from Asia and Africa, but more recently also from high-income countries such as the U.K.,” according to Andrew Amoils, head of research at New World Wealth, which teamed up with Henley & Partners for the report.

The country’s beautiful beaches and wide-open spaces, a high quality of life and an advanced economy, as well as good healthcare and education opportunities, make it a top pick, Amoils added.

Migration to the U.A.E. in 2023 was one of the highest on record, with around 4,500 millionaires moving there.

“Pre-pandemic, the U.A.E. traditionally saw net inflows of around 1,000 high-net-worths per year,” the report said. “Most incoming millionaires in 2023 are expected to come from India, with large numbers also coming from the U.K., Russia, Lebanon, Pakistan, Turkey, Egypt, South Africa, Nigeria, Hong Kong and China.”

Dubai has been a clear beneficiary of this trend, with home prices in the city rising nearly 20% annually in the third quarter, according to Knight Frank.

Singapore was the Asian city that saw the most millionaires move in last year, while the U.S. saw a steady stream of new residents migrate from Asia. Switzerland remains Europe’s top wealth hub and attracts new residents because of that, the report said.

This article originally appeared on Mansion Global.

The typically busy spring season for the housing market was a dud, and the summer isn’t looking much brighter.

Housing services companies like Zillow Group and Rocket RKT +3.78% were loud and clear last week on earnings calls: Rocket CEO Varun Krishna called the quarter through June “one of the toughest spring housing markets in years.”

Jeremy Hofmann, Zillow’s chief financial officer, said on a conference call that the company predicted earlier this year that the market for mortgages would be flat. “We actually now think it’s going to be down low-to-mid-single digits,” he said.

The rest of 2026 will remain challenging for mortgage origination volume, says KBW analyst Bose George. The question now is what happens in 2027. “If mortgage rates remain [around] 6.75%, I think that’s going to be challenging even for next year,” he says.

But what’s bad news for mortgage companies could be a positive for bargain hunters. Buyers can expect prices to grow more slowly—or mildly decline—with less competition as long as mortgage rates remain unpredictable.

Mortgage rates at the beginning of the year were solidly below year-ago levels, notes Zillow senior economist Kara Ng. But they surpassed last year’s levels recently, she adds, referencing Freddie Mac’s weekly survey of 30-year fixed mortgage rates. Last week’s reading, at 6.69%, was higher than year-ago levels for the first time in 2026.

“From the affordability point of view, it’s going to get more challenging in the second half of the year,” she says. “And when affordability gets more challenging, that impacts sales and home price appreciation.”

Mortgage application data tracked by the Mortgage Bankers Association has cooled since the beginning of the year. The trade group expects that the number of mortgage originations in the remaining two quarters will lag behind last year’s levels, after exceeding 2025 levels in the first half.

Rocket’s early-stage data—which the company told Barron’s it derives from its brokerage Redfin, demand for its mortgage products, and signs in its servicing portfolio that a homeowner is preparing to refinance or move—“leads us to expect the third quarter mortgage market to be smaller than the second,” Chief Financial Officer Brian Brown, said on the company’s call. He added that such an occurrence is “something the industry has not seen since 2022.”

Prices will be about flat nationally, Ng says. Zillow’s most recent forecast, which shows how values are expected to change in the year ending June 2027, show them dropping in roughly half of the 100 largest U.S. metros for which data is available.

Buyers aren’t rushing in at a time when mortgage costs are rising and unpredictable. But those with the right combination of patience and cash could stand to benefit. “If you are financially qualified to buy a starter home, you are facing less competition and you’re more likely to get a price cut,” Ng says.