Top 10 Most Expensive Cities in the World for 2024
10. Los Angeles
The city of Southern California occupies the 10th place in this ranking of the most expensive cities in the world. The difference between the districts of Los Angeles offers a real change of scenery within a single city, where the price of real estate per m2 can reach 14,000$.
9. Shanghai
The economic heart of China, the most populated city of the country is a dynamic place as well from a cultural point of view as economic. Shanghai is growing rapidly, and each year welcomes hundreds of thousands of new residents looking for real estate. 1,000,000€ will allow you to buy an average apartment of 63m2 there.
8. Sydney
The real estate market in the city of Sydney in Australia is among the least affordable real estate markets on the planet. It must be said that the place is a dream come true, with its sunny climate all year round, its enviable economy, its ocean that licks the foot of the buildings, its cultural life, its shops, and its many luxury establishments. You will have to pay an average of €1,073,000 to buy a 60m2 apartment there.
7. Paris
France’s capital is also part of the list of cities where real estate is the most expensive. Everything obviously depends on the neighborhoods but some properties can easily cost several million euros. Contrary to what one might think, the most expensive street in Paris is neither rue de la Paix nor avenue des Champs Elysées – it’s avenue Montaigne.
6. Geneva
Long ranked at the top of the world’s GDP, the city at the water jet is in 6th place among the most expensive cities on the planet. And with an average fortune of 528,000 Swiss francs, or €407,607 per inhabitant, the Swiss have very little difficulty in acquiring real estate there at nearly €21,000 per square meter.
5. Singapore
What is commonly called “Asian Switzerland” has more than a third of millionaires among its inhabitants, which makes it the number 1 city for the rich on the planet. And for good reason! The city-state offers considerable tax advantages, such as total exemption from capital gains tax. To buy a luxury apartment in Singapore, you will need to count on average 22,000€/m2.
4. London
The British capital comes in 4th place overall, and it is after Monaco the 2nd European city to enter our ranking of the most expensive cities in the world. With 62 billionaires domiciled in London at the beginning of 2018, the city, famous for its dynamism both culturally and financially, is still as attractive as ever, despite the famous Brexit.
3. New York
New York City is a major financial center for the United States. It attracts an international and often very well-to-do public who appreciate the city for its culture and for its economic possibilities. The creme de la creme of New York real estate is located on the Upper East Side in Manhattan.
2. Hong Kong
The former British colony, celebrating this year its 21 years of attachment to China, and whose name literally means “Perfumed Port”, ranks second in the ranking of the most expensive cities in the world. Ranked just behind Monaco, Hong Kong attracts both Western and Chinese investors and multinationals, as well as the wealthiest Asians.
With an average price of around €40,000 per square meter, Hong Kong’s housing stock is very varied, ranging from some of the most luxurious apartments in the world to villas with swimming pools on the outskirts of the city, and including very small cabins that can reach rents of 300€/month for only 2x2m.
1. Monaco
The small Principality adjoining the Côte d’Azur tops the list of the most expensive cities on the planet. This is not surprising, because as everyone knows the limit of Monaco lies in the very small size of its territory which does not exceed 2km2. And although in Monaco the art of building at height has become commonplace, the offer remains quite limited.
Monaco’s housing stock is one of the most luxurious on the planet, and you will have to spend an average of €3,000,000 to buy a 56m2 apartment there.
How housing policy is decided
Real estate is at the crossroads of many aspects of economic and social life. This is reflected in the numerous attributions of successive ministers.
Here is the list for the last twenty years alone, either attached or in the same function, going back in time.
- Town
- Territorial cohesion
- Sustainable housing
- Territorial equality and rurality
- Ecology, sustainable development, and transport
- Town planning
- Employment and social cohesion
- Equipment, transport, tourism, and the sea
- And today, therefore, Ecological Transition.
A little less than two years for the incumbents, barely a little more than two for the organizational charts…
Six Reasons Why House Prices Keep Rising
Although the population is currently going through the greatest economic crisis since World War II, real estate prices are rising in most European countries, and Belgium is no exception.
In its latest forecasts, the credit rating agency Standard & Poor’s confirms the predictions of Belgian banks. Everything indicates that Belgian real estate prices will rise despite the crisis. S&P expects prices to rise 1.8% from a year earlier. The rating agency nevertheless forecasts a stabilization of these prices by 2021 and a further rise in prices in the following years.
Discover the country where real estate has risen the most in 10 years
The frenetic rise in real estate prices is a global phenomenon, it must be noted. Indeed, despite the doubling of average tariffs observed across France (+100.5% very precisely), six other OECD countries have experienced greater increases over the past ten years. This is what we learn from a study carried out by the British credit broker Money.co.uk.
The “champion” in any category is undoubtedly Israel where prices have exploded by 345.7% in 10 years. Apart from the United States (in 4th position with + 153.3%), the 4 other countries which have experienced a higher increase than France are located in Europe: Switzerland in 2nd position with 165.5% followed by Germany (162%). Then come Hungary (137.8%) and Slovakia (111.8%).
The study compares the evolution of stone prices with the progression of wages. It can thus be seen that the huge rise in prices in Israel is slightly offset by a rise in wages (+17.5%) which is greater than in most of the most advanced countries in this ranking.
Conversely, Switzerland could only count on a 2.4% increase in wages. France is doing barely better with an increase of 2.8% over 10 years. And what about Portugal where the stone has climbed 86.5% in 10 years while wages fell over the same period: -1.3%?
The Top 10 Expensive Cities Price Increases in 10 Years
| Country | Average house price per m² (2010) | Average house price per m² (2020) | Price increase | Annual wage growth between 2010 and 2020 | Average annual inflation rate 2010-20 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Israel | 1 817 € | 8 096 € | 346 % | 18 % | 1 % |
| 2 | Switzerland | 3 740 € | 9 932 € | 166 % | 2 % | −0 % |
| 3 | Germany | 2 084 € | 5 459 € | 162 % | 14 % | 1 % |
| 4 | United States | 1 265 € | 3 203 € | 153 % | 14 % | 2 % |
| 5 | Hungary | 980 € | 2 332 € | 138 % | 17 % | 3 % |
| 6 | Slovakia | 1 166 € | 2 470 € | 112 % | 19 % | 2 % |
| 7 | France | 4 047 € | 8 113 € | 101 % | 3 % | 1 % |
| 8 | Portugal | 1 437 € | 2 679 € | 87 % | −1 % | 1 % |
| 9 | Japan | 3 785 € | 6 627 € | 75 % | 1 % | 0 % |
| 10 | United Kingdom | 2 889 € | 5 052 € | 75 % | 1 % | 2 % |
Inflation and interest rates
For its part, inflation played a rather marginal role in this ranking because it is everywhere between 0 and 2% with a few rare exceptions (Mexico at 3.91%, Hungary at 2.56%, or even Estonia at 2.08%). If real estate is taking an increasing share in the budget (and in the wealth) of households, it is obviously the low mortgage rates that have allowed such surges in prices in 10 years.
The most expensive house in the world (finally) sold at auction
The 9,700 m² property was sold for 126 million dollars, much less than the 295 million dollars claimed by its promoter.
After months of waiting and speculation, the “most expensive villa in the world” has finally found a buyer. “The One” was indeed sold at auction on March 3 for the sum of $126 million, reported Dirt on March 4.
This is more than half the sum expected by its promoter, Nile Niami, namely 295 million, who had already resolved to lower the base cost planned to 500 million dollars. And it came close to failing the sale at an even lower price. Minutes from the end of the auction, a $70 million bid held the rope. It was in the last seconds that it climbed to 126 million.
In total, according to Dirt, the house will cost its buyer $141 million because of the 12% tax he will have to pay on top of that. But this sale leaves a bitter taste although it is the most expensive ever recorded. The project was launched in 2012 by American promoter Nile Niami. In the Bel-Air district, he had razed the previous house, a mansion that had been seen in several American series like Columbo. For this, he had then taken out millions of dollars in loans.
42 bathrooms, its 21 bedrooms
But it is clear that almost ten years later, the project was at a standstill, the house not finished. As Capital explained, the mansion had been placed in receivership by the Los Angeles County Superior Court due to unpaid debts. With its 42 bathrooms, 21 bedrooms, a master suite of more than 500m², or even seven swimming pools, a cinema and a nightclub, it had something to dream about. But the promoter’s financial situation changed things.
“The One” will therefore not win the title of the most expensive house in the world since, in California, the record was broken in 2021 (177 million dollars). Jeff Bezos had also spent 156 million for his in California. The overall record is still held by the Louis XIV castle of Louveciennes, near Versailles, bought for 275 million euros by the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed ben Salman, in 2015. The new owner of “The One” is not yet known, but it should be once the deed of sale is signed. There would still be 20 million jobs to be done in it.
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