World's Priciest Cities To Own A Home

Those living in Monte Carlo may enjoy the Côte d’Azur's beaches, glamorous nightlife and status as a tax haven, but they pay for it.

For the second consecutive year, the resort area tops a list of the world's most expensive housing markets, boasting average prices of $4,420 per square foot. "Monte Carlo is a city of the rich, small and concentrated," says Matthew Montagu-Pollock, publisher of Globalpropertyguide.com, the online real estate research firm that released the report Monday. "The primary reasons for such high prices are related to a shortage of space and tax havens."

In Depth: World's Priciest Cities To Own A Home
Moscow ($1,937 per square foot) and London ($1,928 per square foot) ranked second and third. Moscow's one-spot jump to the top three was propelled by strong economic growth, partly a result of recent high oil prices, and a rise in residential real estate prices in the first three quarters of the year. Last year, the country experienced gross domestic product growth of 6%, according to the CIA's World Factbook.

A surprising turn was New York's drop to No. 6, from No. 2, as growth in Asian markets pushed Hong Kong and Tokyo to the top five. Residential apartment prices in Hong Kong and Tokyo were as high as $1,373 and $1,103 per square foot, respectively, in last year's survey. In New York, the average price per square foot was $1,384.1.

Mumbai, India, rounds out the top 10, with prices averaging $851 per square feet.

Such high property values are surprising during this global economic crisis, but they are a sign of historically high real wealth and global growth.

By Chavon Sutton,
Article taken from http://www.forbes.com/fdc/welcome_mjx.shtml