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The richest Americans own this many homes worldwide


The richest Americans own this many homes worldwide

Eye-opening tidbits about affluent US insurance buyers

The Angel of Independence in Mexico, one of the top destinations for rich US home buyers, according to AIG. Vincent St. Thomas/Shutterstock
The Angel of Independence in Mexico, one of the top destinations for rich US home buyers, according to AIG. Vincent St. Thomas/Shutterstock

Keeping up with the Joneses is a business with higher stakes than ever, based on findings from a study released this month by insurance giant AIG.

The study, which surveyed ultra-high-net-worth AIG clients who spent more than USD250,000 on insurance premiums a year (and reportedly includes 40 percent of Forbes 400 Wealthiest Americans), found that wealthy US consumers tend to buy multiple overseas properties in the Americas and just across the pond.

Here are some salient takeaways from the survey:

Nine

This is the average number of residences owned by AIG’s UHNW customers in the US. Take note that this figure doesn’t include their properties stateside.

Nineteen

This is the average number of regular-use vehicles owned by UHNW Americans.

More: USD3.9 trillion in global wealth to be passed down in next 10 years

Art and baubles

In addition to real estate, US wealthy store their wealth in insured fine art, which averages around USD19.6 million in value. AIG also found that wealthy Americans acquire USD1.7 million in insured jewelry on average.

The Americas

When it comes to buying overseas property, Americans like to keep it in the Americas. North and South America have proven to be the most popular locations for foreign real estate by the US affluent, with 14 percent and 13 percent of their overseas homes located in Mexico and the Bahamas, respectively. Nine percent of homes by the US wealthy are situated in the Caribbean, which along with the Bahamas, is home to several tax havens.

Europe still top draw

There’s nothing like Old World charms for the richest Americans. Around 12 percent of Americans surveyed by AIG own houses in England, while 9 percent have them in France.

Read next: 7 things we learned from the 2016 Richest People in China report

Source: Property Report