Auction houses in Asia-Pacific thrive on millennials' art-buying power

Young collectors are seen to be particularly drawn to contemporary art as growth for Christie’s, Sotheby’s, and Phillips are highly anticipated in art hubs in Hong Kong and Singapore.

Millennials have proven themselves to be the new generation that paints a profitable path for auction houses. In fact, last year, younger collectors accounted for 34% of Christie’s, close to 40% of Sotheby’s, and nearly a third of Phillips’ buyers.

“Asia-Pacific (APAC) remains the powerhouse of new and millennial buyers with strong buying power,” Francis Belin, President of Christie’s Asia Pacific, told Singapore Business Review. In Christie’s recent Spring Auctions in Hong Kong, millennials accounted for 45% of all new buyers to the sales.

Sotheby’s Chairman for Asia Nicolas Chow said millennials are also the biggest growing demographic amongst their Asian buyers in contemporary art, fashion, and luxury.

Apart from accounting for the lion’s share of auction houses’ buyers, millennials from the APAC region are also spending hefty amounts on art. 

In 2022, 62% of the spending from millennials at Christie’s globally was from APAC millennials.

Jonathan Crockett, chairman for Asia at Phillips Auction House, said young collectors from Asia, even firsttime buyers, are spending millions of dollars on art.

“People in their 20s and 30s in the West dip their toes in the water or start off buying something that costs around US$1,000 to US$20,000. But here [in Asia], it never ceases to amaze me how pretty much every auction we have, new, first-time buyers come in at the million-dollar level and above. Sometimes, to the tune of up to US$10 million. It’s something that doesn’t really happen in the West, but seems to be prevalent here,” Crockett said.