Asia has some of the most expensive real estate markets on the planet. In fact, the continent now hosts half of the world’s costliest cities to buy property.

I’m not saying that a costly market is a good one to invest in. The contrary is often true. But some of Asia’s megacities have a reputation for stability and safety – especially the region’s financial centers.

Rich buyers are choosing to store their wealth in the form of property in places like Singapore. This is happening as other types of investment, such as stocks, are near all-time highs with unattractive valuations in some countries.

Many of these wealthy offshore real estate owners are Chinese and see the writing on the wall. For the past few years, China has increased capital controls to stop money from flowing out of the country. Beijing doesn’t want their citizens investing abroad.

Of course, having lived ...