Venezuelans’ luxury house purchase ups

LONDON - Reuters

The number of purchasing luxury homes all around the world showed a considerable hike in Venezuela last year, with an greater increase than any country.

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 state, 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 increase, according to the company’s Wealth Report, which for the first time tracked users of its website, where homes can cost up to $150.7 million.

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 though the region still represents less than 10 percent of the total, the company said.

Venezuela’s socialist president, Hugo Chavez, died from cancer on March 5 after a 14-year reign that polarized 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.

“Our experience is that whenever we see a spike in web traffic, then actual sales follow with a three to six month lag. Venezuelans are showing strong interest in Madrid and the Brazilians in the U.S. We’d expect a noticeable uptick in sales in 2013 from South America,” said Liam Bailey, head of residential research at Knight Frank.