Ask three research houses which city is the world's most expensive and you will get three different answers. That is not sloppiness. It is methodology.
Knight Frank measures how much prime space one million dollars buys. Henley and Partners with New World Wealth measure average price per square metre of prime residential stock. Savills tracks prime values across 30 metropolitan markets but excludes Monaco entirely, on the grounds that a principality is not a city. Each is internally consistent and each produces a different leaderboard.
This ranking uses the Henley and Partners average prime price per square metre as its spine, because it is the only widely published measure expressing absolute cost as a single comparable figure. Knight Frank's relative value data appears alongside as a cross-check. Where a figure is not published for a city under a given methodology, the cell is left empty rather than estimated.
The Ranking
| # | City | Average prime price per sq m (USD) | Prime sq m per $1M (Knight Frank) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Monaco | About $38,800 | 16 |
| 2 | New York | About $27,500 | 34 |
| 3 | Hong Kong | About $26,300 | 23 |
| 4 | London | About $24,000 | 33 |
| 5 | Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat | About $21,200 | Not published |
| 6 | Paris | Not published | Not published |
| 7 | Palm Beach | Not published | Not published |
| 8 | Miami | Not published | 58 |
| 9 | Los Angeles | Not published | Not published |
| 10 | Geneva | Not published | 28 |
Price per square metre figures from the Henley and Partners and New World Wealth World's Wealthiest Cities Report. Relative value figures from Knight Frank's Wealth Report 2026, reflecting 2025 data.
1. Monaco
Monaco is not the most expensive city in the world by a margin. It is the most expensive by a chasm.
At roughly $38,800 per square metre, prime Monaco costs about 41% more than second-placed New York. Knight Frank's relative value measure is starker still: one million dollars buys 16 square metres of prime Monegasque property, down from 17 in 2020 and the tightest figure in the entire index. That is roughly 172 square feet, or a generous walk-in wardrobe. Savills, using a different basket, puts average Monaco values above EUR 57,000 per square metre in 2026, with Larvotto higher again.
The drivers are structural and unlikely to change. The principality covers about two square kilometres. There is no meaningful development land, only reclamation. There is no personal income tax for residents, French nationals excepted. Over 40% of residents are millionaires, the highest concentration on earth. Supply is fixed, demand is global, and the result is the price you see.
Who buys here: internationally mobile ultra-high-net-worth individuals establishing tax residency, second-home buyers in the Riviera ecosystem, and family offices seeking an EU-adjacent base.
2. New York
New York clears roughly $27,500 per square metre in its prime segment, and Knight Frank puts the million-dollar footprint at 34 square metres, marginally more generous than London.
That last point is worth sitting with. For twenty years the accepted wisdom was that London commanded a premium over Manhattan. In the 2026 data the two have reached rough parity, and the direction of travel is not in London's favour. Knight Frank noted New York prices rising marginally in 2025 despite tax threats, with inventory for high-quality turnkey property running low.
Manhattan's true trophy corridor, Billionaires' Row and the blocks facing Central Park, trades far above the citywide prime average. Ken Griffin's $238 million purchase at 220 Central Park South priced at just under $10,000 per square foot, roughly $107,000 per square metre, and still leads our ranking of the most expensive penthouses ever sold.
Who buys here: domestic financial wealth, Latin American and Asian capital, and increasingly a cohort that treats the apartment as a business base rather than a home.
3. Hong Kong
Hong Kong sits third by absolute price at roughly $26,300 per square metre, but second on Knight Frank's relative value measure at 23 square metres per million dollars. Savills, which excludes Monaco, ranks Hong Kong first among its 30 tracked cities at approximately EUR 36,700 per square metre.
Three positions for the same city, in the same year, illustrate exactly why methodology matters when you read a headline ranking.
Hong Kong's ultra-prime tier is a market of its own. The Peak has produced the highest price per square foot ever recorded in Asia: HK$140,800, roughly $18,100, at Mount Nicholson in 2021. Knight Frank observed one of the strongest upticks in super-prime sales anywhere at the close of 2025, suggesting the multi-year correction in the broader market has not touched the top.
Who buys here: mainland Chinese wealth, which by Knight Frank's estimate accounted for around half of ultra-luxury purchases in recent years, alongside established Hong Kong dynasties.
4. London
London prime runs around $24,000 per square metre, with a million dollars buying 33 square metres.
London is the most interesting entry here because it is the only top-five market where the trajectory is defensive. Knight Frank's 2026 assessment is blunt: tax rules aimed at wealthy residents have pushed budgets lower and encouraged renting over buying. The firm describes London shifting toward a dip-in, dip-out model, a place the wealthy visit for business, culture and connectivity rather than one where they establish permanent residence.
The consequences are visible in the stock. Appetite for vast square footage has been replaced by demand for well-located boltholes, and the super-prime rental market has surged as buyers avoid stamp duty exposure. Meanwhile Milan and Madrid are actively capturing capital that would once have defaulted to London.
Who buys here: still deeply international, but with shorter holding intentions and smaller footprints than a decade ago.
5. Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat
At roughly $21,200 per square metre, this French Riviera peninsula outranks Paris, Miami and Los Angeles. It is not a city. It is a headland of villas between Nice and Monaco with a population under 2,000.
Its inclusion in a most expensive cities ranking is a methodological quirk worth flagging honestly, but it is also genuinely instructive: in the global prime market, micro-locations with absolute supply constraints and proximity to a tax-advantaged jurisdiction now outprice most world capitals. It is also where Villa Les Cedres, one of the most expensive villas ever sold, changed hands at around $220 million.
6 to 10. Paris, Palm Beach, Miami, Los Angeles and Geneva
The next tier clusters closely enough that ordering shifts year to year and by methodology.
Paris holds sixth in the Henley ranking, supported by tightly regulated supply in the 6th, 7th and 8th arrondissements and by the Milan, Madrid and Paris capture of London-displaced capital.
Palm Beach has become a genuine ultra-prime market rather than a seasonal one, driven by the post-2020 relocation of American financial wealth to Florida.
Miami appears eighth by absolute price but has seen the most aggressive contraction in relative value of any market Knight Frank tracks: one million dollars now buys 58 square metres, close to half of what it bought five years ago. Prices dipped slightly in 2025, following an extraordinary run since 2021.
Los Angeles is contending with Measure ULA, the transfer tax on high-value property sales, which Knight Frank identifies as having cooled super-prime liquidity meaningfully.
Geneva ranks third globally on Knight Frank's relative value measure at 28 square metres per million dollars, ahead of both London and New York, even though its absolute price per square metre trails them. Swiss restrictions on foreign purchase keep the qualifying buyer pool small and the stock tightly held.
Where Does Dubai Sit?
Dubai does not appear in the top ten by absolute price per square metre, and any article claiming otherwise is not reading the data. It appears in almost every other league table that matters.
Knight Frank's Wealth Report 2026 records Dubai prime prices up roughly 25% in 2025 and close to 200% over five years, making the UAE the global leader in super-prime residential performance. Dubai recorded 500 home sales above $10 million in 2025, worth more than $9 billion, a volume that places it alongside New York and London at the very top of the ultra-prime transaction table despite a lower average price per square metre.
The distinction is simple, and it is the whole reason absolute-price and growth rankings tell different stories:
- Absolute price rankings measure what a square metre costs today. Monaco wins because it ran out of land decades ago.
- Growth rankings measure the rate of change. Dubai wins because it is still absorbing an inflow of capital and population no mature market can replicate, as our ranking of the fastest-growing luxury property markets sets out.
For a buyer, the practical translation is that Dubai currently offers roughly three to four times the prime floor area per dollar of Monaco or Hong Kong, in a zero-income-tax jurisdiction, with a ten-year residency visa attached to a AED 2 million purchase. That combination does not exist anywhere in the top five above. Abu Dhabi is emerging on the same axis, positioned by Knight Frank as a destination for buyers seeking a lower-profile alternative.
How to Read Prime Property Rankings
Check whether the figure is average or trophy. A citywide prime average and the price of the best building in that city can differ by a factor of five. Monaco averages $38,800 per square metre; Manhattan's record penthouse cleared roughly $107,000.
Check whether Monaco is in the sample. Savills excludes it. Henley and Knight Frank include it. That single decision moves Hong Kong between first and third.
Check the currency. Prime price changes are usually reported in local currency. Tokyo's headline 58.5% prime price surge in Knight Frank's 2026 index was substantially a weak yen story, which made Japanese luxury new-builds a value play for dollar-denominated buyers.
Check the date. These indices publish annually with a lag. The 2026 Wealth Report reflects 2025 performance.
There is no single most expensive city. There is only the question each index happens to be asking.
Sources
- Knight Frank, The Wealth Report 2026, Prime International Residential Index
- Henley and Partners with New World Wealth, World's Wealthiest Cities Report
- Savills World Cities Prime Residential Index
- Dubai Land Department transaction data
To compare what a given budget buys in the region, browse current luxury homes for sale or read more analysis in the Real Estate journal.
Figures reflect the most recent published editions at the time of writing. Prime residential definitions vary between research houses.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the most expensive city in the world to buy property?
Monaco, by the Henley and Partners measure of average prime price per square metre at approximately $38,800, and by Knight Frank's relative value measure, where one million dollars buys just 16 square metres of prime space.
Why do different reports name different cities as the most expensive?
Because they measure different things. Knight Frank measures space per dollar, Henley measures average prime price per square metre, and Savills tracks 30 metropolitan markets while excluding Monaco entirely. Each is valid within its own methodology, and that single Monaco decision moves Hong Kong between first and third.
How much does $1 million buy in Monaco?
Approximately 16 square metres, or about 172 square feet, of prime residential space, according to Knight Frank's Wealth Report 2026. That is the smallest footprint of any market in the index, down from 17 square metres in 2020.
Is Dubai one of the most expensive cities for luxury property?
Not by average price per square metre, where it sits outside the global top ten. Dubai leads on growth instead: prime prices rose roughly 25% in 2025 and close to 200% over five years, and the city recorded 500 sales above $10 million in 2025 worth more than $9 billion.
Is London still one of the world's most expensive property markets?
Yes, at roughly $24,000 per square metre, but its relative position has weakened. Knight Frank reports that tax changes have pushed buyer budgets lower and shifted demand toward renting and smaller footprints, with Milan and Madrid capturing capital that once defaulted to London.
Why is Monaco so expensive?
Fixed supply against global demand. The principality covers about two square kilometres with no meaningful development land, only reclamation. There is no personal income tax for residents, French nationals excepted, and over 40% of residents are millionaires, the highest concentration on earth.
How much prime property does $1 million buy in Dubai compared with Monaco?
Roughly three to four times as much floor area. That difference, combined with no income tax and a ten-year residency visa attached to a AED 2 million purchase, is the practical reason Dubai attracts buyers who could afford either market.
What is the highest price per square foot ever paid for an apartment?
Unit 16D at Mount Nicholson on Hong Kong's Peak, at HK$140,800 per square foot, roughly $18,100, in 2021. In New York, Ken Griffin's $238 million purchase at 220 Central Park South priced at just under $10,000 per square foot.
Which cities are rising fastest rather than costing the most?
Japan led globally with Tokyo prime prices up roughly 58.5%, largely a weak yen effect, followed by the UAE at up to 25.1% and the Philippines at around 21.2%. Absolute price and growth rankings measure different things and rarely name the same city.
