Sydney ranked at 14 as a destination for their money, the report found.

Defined as someone with a net worth of $US30 million or more, excluding their principal residence, they are generally the front office for a family-owned fund, company or private office.

Those with fewer riches, a net worth of $US1 million or more, excluding their principal residence, are termed high net worth individuals (HNWIs).

The Wealth Report, which includes the Global Cities Survey, is a survey of Knight Frank's Capital Markets teams across 15 key locations around the world, commissioned to find out where and what the super wealthy are buying.

It shows that over the past 10 years, Australia was positioned fourth in terms of countries with the greatest foreign inflows of HNWIs, with a gain of 22,000. This represents 14 per cent of the total 158,300 Australian HNWI population.

Matt Whitby, group director, head of research & consulting at Knight Frank, said of these HNWIs, 1734 were ultra high net worth individuals living in Australia in 2014.

"Sydney currently accommodates almost half of these individuals, with the capital cities of Melbourne (26 per cent), Perth (15 per cent) and Brisbane (14 per cent) taking up the balance."

One trend that emerged in the latest survey was that while UHNWIs still hold most of their property investments in their own country, in the vast majority of the locations surveyed, wealthy private individuals are also looking for overseas investments.

These include peripheral markets such as Ireland and Spain, with Australia attracting an increasing amount of Asian investors and family money.

These buyers are not just targeting office blocks to convert to apartments and other high profile "trophy" assets, but in the search for high yields, are going up the risk curve, such as suburban office areas and secondary cities where higher returns are available.

Mr Whitby said global commercial real estate sales volume increased by 7.5 per cent in 2014 to about  $US619 billion in 2014.

"We see global sales in commercial real estate rising by another 6 per cent in 2015, with value-add rising further up the agenda," Mr Whitby said. Value-add is any building where the buyer can increase the investment return via construction, changing to another use such as residential or signing up higher-paying tenants.

"UHNWIs are now an important force in the commercial property world and are operating at all levels – prime, secondary, development and change of use. Opportunities are opening up as the global economy moves into a new cycle and urban regeneration is the new black," he said.

"Development in particular is rising up the agenda in the real estate world, and UHNWIs will be part of the new wave of buildings."

Neil Brookes, head of capital markets for Knight Frank, Asia Pacific, said,in terms of the cities that are consistently favoured by UHNWIs, Asian cities now make up four of the top 10 slots in Knight Frank's Global Cities Survey.

"The most intriguing battle remains between the region's top two cities, as Hong Kong retakes third spot from Singapore in this year's survey. Strengthened by its connections with mainland China and the sheer weight of Chinese capital on its doorstep, Hong Kong boasts a larger billionaire population than its south-east Asian rival," Mr Brookes said.