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Monaco overtakes London for the priciest properties
Jonathan Prynn, Consumer Affairs Editor24 Sep 2008
Monaco has overtaken central London as the world's most expensive property market.
Prices for prime homes in the Mediterranean tax haven have soared by 30 per cent over the past year, according to a survey published today.
This compares with less than two per cent in credit-crunch-ravaged London, where fallout from the financial market turmoil is starting to hit home values.
In Monaco - home to tax exiles such as retail billionaire Sir Philip Green, easyJet founder Stelios Haji-Ioannou and developer brothers Nick and Christian Candy - prime properties cost an average of £3,762 per square foot. This is ahead of London on £3,291, claims research from estate agency Knight Frank.
It is the first time in five yearsMonaco has been more expensive than London, where prices at the top end of the market exploded by up to 50 per cent a year in the final phase of the UK property boom.
Experts said homes in Monaco were in desperately short supply, with only a few hundred apartments on the market at any time.
Roger Munns, founder of Your-Monaco.com property and travel website, said: "There is virtually no new supply. What building is going on is the Monaco equivalent of council houses for doctors, nurses and government officials. There is very little new build for the open market. But demand is pretty much as strong as ever.
"We have heard of one or two people saying they were going to come but can't now because of the share prices - but not many."
Monaco boasts the world's most expensive street, Avenue Princess Grace, where a four-bedroom apartment can cost £22 million. Even on less prestigious streets a two bedroom apartment will be £3 million to £4 million.
Mr Munns said that with one police officer for every 100 residents, the superrich felt secure on the streets of neighbourhoods such as Monte Carlo.
He said: "People move to Monaco to be anonymous, they like the fact that it is a 'police state'. What they want to be able to do is go to the supermarket and see David Coulthard wandering around."
Liam Bailey, head of residential research at Knight Frank, said that despite the sharp slowdown in London, the £10 million plus "superprime" market in areas such as Mayfair, Belgravia and Knightsbridge was holding up remarkably well - for now.
He said: "Despite the credit crunch, extraordinary wealth creation has continued until recently across the global oil and commodity sectors." But he predicted the market would slow due to the turmoil in financial markets.
It emerged this week that the £11 million Holland Park home of former dotcom entrepreneur Robert Bonnier had been seized in a record London repossession.
Reader views (3)
Princesse Grace is the world's most expensive street? Interesting...
Nice view too :-D
- I.L.M, London, UK, 24/09/2008 16:15
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but enough room for all 4 of their chins
- Bloke, London, 24/09/2008 16:04
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Certain people pay no taxes and spend the money instead on property, thereby pushing up the prices of property. Mr Green is a tax-dodger who hides his UK earnings in Monaco.
- Neil, london uk, Airstrip ONE ., 24/09/2008 15:59
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