Monaco is the most expensive place in the world to buy a home. How expensive? According to the Global Property Guide, you’ll have to plunk down US$60,114 per square meter to land the home of your dreams. A square meter is about 1.8 square feet.
To put things in perspective, that’s about twice the price per square meter you’ll have to shell out in London, the second most expensive city to buy property. It’s really not that much of a surprise when you take an eye-bugging look at Monaco’s money stats.
Famed for its enormous yachts, fast cars and tax exiles (it has the most benevolent tax rates for the super-rich in the world), Monaco is the wealthiest nation in the world. Crammed together in the second smallest and second most populated country in the world, the rich just keep getting richer in Monaco. The city-state has less than 40,000 people but a per capita income north of US$175,000. Nearly 30 percent of its residents are millionaires, the highest density of big bucks anywhere in the world.
By the way, don’t bother looking for a rental in Monaco. Under the category rent per month, Global Property Guide shows: “not available.”
London ranks number two with a paltry US$34,531 per square meter for a home purchase. But if you’re looking for a rental, you’re in luck. An average rental is US$11,089 for nice digs in the city.
Hong Kong is the third most expensive place to buy a home, US$22,814 per square meter, but rents are about half of London’s, US$6,431. By comparison, New York is a real steal, with homes for sale going at US$18,499 per square meter. Rents are down right reasonable, only US$7,225 for a decent place.
Rounding out the top 10 most expensive cities for expats (or anyone else) to buy a home are, in descending order, Paris, Moscow, Singapore, Vienna, Tokyo and Geneva, Switzerland.
If these don’t match your budget, you can try the least expensive city on the list, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. About US$700 per square meter will get you something that might work for you. If you can’t afford to buy there, you can get a rental for US$500 a month.
