One million US dollars or around €925,000 might sound like a nice budget when shopping for a new home, but how much property can you really get for that in the world’s most expensive cities? 

As it turns out, it’s not very much. A Knight Frank report into prime property and the costs per square metre in the world’s top-end residential markets has revealed that in some of the most expensive cities, a $US1 million budget will barely stretch to a studio apartment.  

Monaco remains the world’s most expensive real estate market 

Monaco retained its title as the most expensive residential market in 2022 with an average price per square metre that reached around €51 million. Prices across the Principality vary significantly, with the Jardin Exotique neighbourhood offering the best value for money at just under €35,000 per square metre, but prices soared in the seafront Larvotto quartier to over €62,000.  

According to Knight Frank, prices in this seafront section of the Principality are expected to continue to grow in the coming years, particularly with the completion of the Mareterra project. Here, the price per square metre is anticipated to achieve a staggering €100,000, which would easily make it the most expensive residential development in the world.  

So how much will $US1 million get you in Monaco today? Just 17 square metres.  

Elsewhere in the world, the same budget will get you 21 square metres in Hong Kong, 33 in New York, and 34 in Singapore and London. Geneva and Paris come a little further down the list with a more generous 37 and 43 square metres respectively, but even that equates to a one or two-bedroom – at a push – property.

At the more favourable end of the prime property scale, a prospective buyer could get 150 square metres in Dubai, the location with the fastest rising prices and a 44% increase in prime property costs between 2021 and 2022. Cape Town at 218 square metres and Sao Paulo with 231 also offer a larger investment in terms of volume.  

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Photo by Monaco Life