Home values in the Principality rose to a record €41,420 per square metre last year after increasing 15 percent since 2015, according to the Government’s statistics office. The strong year followed a slight decline in prices from 2014 to 2015, after a steady growth period from 2012.
The strong price rise eclipses other top-end property markets. The current price is more than twice the price of Manhattan co-op and condo properties, and almost twice the value of a luxury home in London. The high end of the Monaco market appears to be strongest. Nearly half of the 33 new homes bought in Monaco in 2016 sold for €10 million or more.
More than a thousand AS Monaco supporters will be in Manchester on Tuesday night to support their club in the knockout round of the Champions League against Manchester City.
Not all the fans will be from the Riviera, with many planning to travel from the north of France. A group of 50 devoted supporters from Monaco will be making the trip. Josep “Pep” Guardiola, the City trainer has no illusions that Monaco will be a tough team to beat. He told the sports press on Monday that Monaco are a complete and balanced team.
Mr Guardiola admitted in the interview that critics are waiting to “kill” him and Manchester City if they fail to get past Monaco in the Champions League last 16.
AS Monaco has won plaudits from other teams for inexpensively building up the side by nurturing young players, after splashing out millions of euros in a major spending spree three seasons ago.
The Principality’s footballers have a good record playing in England, beating the Spurs in September. Kick-off is at 7:45 pm, UK time.
French presidential candidate François Fillon, 62, is still proposing an increase in VAT, despite reports on Monday that he was about to renounce the idea. The centre-right candidate of Les Republicains wants to increase the standard rate from 20 to 22 percent, and the intermediate rate from 10 to 12 percent, in order to raise €16 billion into state coffers.
However, he has come in for harsh criticism from opponents of the move, who claim that an increase in VAT would carry significant risk for the purchasing power of the French consumer. A former Minister of Economy, François Baroin, said that an increase in VAT rates would impact all sectors of the economy.
The French economy has shown signs of life in recent months, with the unemployment rate falling to 9.7 percent in the last three months of 2016, down by one percent from the third quarter. However, the consensus among economists is that the prospects for the French economy remain fragile.
Mr Fillon, who recently made headlines for hiring his wife as a parliamentary aide over 15 years with an average monthly salary of €3,700 after tax – “fair for a woman with training in law” he said – has also been criticised for his American-style healthcare plans, which would limit France’s generous public health insurance to serious or long-term illnesses, with everything else requiring private insurance.
Even billionaires run into trouble with bailiffs, as industrialist Andrey Melnichenko has found out after his new boat, “Sailing Yacht A”, was impounded by the Gibraltar Port Authority over the non-payment of bills.
The builders of the world’s largest sailing yacht – its three masts are higher than Big Ben’s clock tower – claim that the billionaire Russian owner owes the company €15.3 million. Gibraltar Admiralty Marshal Liam Yeats, said: “The vessel is under arrest and is currently at anchor in British Gibraltar Territorial Waters.”
On its website, the Authority adds: “(This) isn’t an attractive proposition, and clearly it’s an action of last resort but, when handled efficiently and swiftly, it can at least deliver a safe resolution to a dispute and bring matters to a close.”
Shipbuilder Nobiskrug is seeking an outstanding payment of €9.8 million, as well as €5.5 million for subcontractors and interest charges. The claims are made against Valla Yachts Ltd, the Bermuda company to which the yacht is registered.
Just two weeks ago, as the yacht left the shipyard, the shipbuilder’s managing director, Holger Kahl, said: “Born from the desire of the owner to ‘push the boundaries of engineering and challenge the status quo of the industry’, Sailing Yacht A is undoubtedly one of the most visionary projects Nobiskrug has ever been involved in.”
Mr Melnichenko’s other boat can be seen often off Monaco. The distinctive “Motor Yacht A”, was named so it appears first on international ship registries, as will “Sailing Yacht A” in the sailing class.
Sailing Yacht A requires 54 crew to operate, has eight decks connected by several lifts, and is capable of achieving speeds of 35 knots downwind.
Home values in the Principality rose to a record €41,420 per square metre last year after increasing 15 percent since 2015, according to the Government’s statistics office. The strong year followed a slight decline in prices from 2014 to 2015, after a steady growth period from 2012.
