In Oxford Learner's Dictionary, under apparent, it says that
apparent 2:
[usually before noun] that seems to be real or true but may not be
• Their affluence is more apparent than real.
(= they are not as rich as they seem to be)
But I don't know the meaning of the phrase "more apparent than real".
Best Answer
I can totally see where you are getting confused. 'Apparent' is not a quality which 'real' would possess. The sentence is not trying to say something like "it's more yellow than a banana", but rather something like "it tastes more like beef than chicken".
In conclusion, the sentence means that "They look rich on the outside, but they are not really that rich".