Monaco, the Mediterranean principality, may be very small in size but scores big as a luxury destination. One of the major attractions for the rich in Europe to become official residents of Monaco is that the principality does not levy any personal income tax. Knight Frank LLP, a London-based property broker has compiled a global index of prices for luxury homes. Monaco is the clear leader at $65,600 per square meter. The agency has been keeping track of all the luxury houses for sale. They have averaged out the prices of all luxury homes sold during the year.
There is a gap of almost $10,000 between the real estate prices in Monaco and London which is listed second on the most expensive market. The average price of luxury houses for sale in London in 2010 was $56,300 per square meter. France occupies the fifth position on the list with the average price recordings of $40,500. There are three more locations in France who have made it to the most expensive list. This is the third year in a row that Monaco has retained its position as the most expensive luxury residential market.
The other parameter, on which Knight Frank collected data, was the fastest price growth in the global luxury residential markets. In this list Shanghai was on the top of the list, recording a growth of 21% during the year to hit a high of $17,700 for a square meter. Mumbai was just behind Shanghai in the list followed by Singapore. And coming back to Monaco, the biggest deal last year was La Belle Epoque, a 1,600 square meter penthouse, which was sold by Christian and Nick Candy in September for $340 million.
Via: bloomberg
