The world’s £3m property hot spots

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No prizes for guessing that a small principality in the French Riviera ranks as the number one hunting ground for luxury property. This is according to a recent survey that shows international destinations with the highest density of prime real estate. We take a closer look and hopefully inspire anyone keen to buy in one of the world’s most exclusive addresses.

Europe dominates a new list of global destinations with the highest concentration of luxury residences, with glitzy Monaco in the Côte d’Azur taking the number one spot. Over the border in France, the rich pickings of high-end property in Paris make the French capital the second hottest buying spot for investors with large budgets.

Other European destinations ranking highly are London (ranked 4th), the Greek island Mykonos (5th) and Balearic Islands of Ibiza (8th) and Mallorca (9th). Unsurprisingly, New York takes the third spot, with Los Angeles in fifth, and Barbados (7th) and Dubai (10th) completing the top ten.

The rankings were based on research by high-end mortgage broker Enness Global Mortgages, who analysed the world’s 15 most desirable prime property markets in February 2021. The results for each are based on the number of homes for sale at £3m-plus per square kilometre. Valais (Switzerland), Cape Town, Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur (France), Venice and Aspen (Colorado) completed the list respectively.

Monaco’s small size helped it to top the table. It has 216 homes listed for at least £3m spread across 2.02 square kilometres, equating to 107 prime residences per sq km.

“Nowhere breeds exclusivity quite like Monaco”

“Nowhere breeds exclusivity quite like Monaco, with a consistent level of demand focused around a very small geographical area,” said Managing Director of Enness Global Mortgages, Hugh Wade-Jones. “As a result, prime properties account for half of all housing stock currently for sale across Monaco and you’d struggle to kick a stone and fail to hit a home worth upward of £3m.”

Meanwhile, Paris has 586 comparable homes for sale, and with an estimated size of 105.40 sq km, this translates to 5.6 prime residences per sq km.

This figure drops to 2.4 per sq km in New York and 1.7 per sq km in London. In fact, the UK capital has a table-topping 2,689 prime properties on the market but as they are spread across 1,572 sq kms, the city’s density is lower than other destinations.

“It’s interesting that while London remains a popular option amongst the world’s wealthiest homebuyers, France and New York actually present a greater level of stock per square kilometre,” added Mr Wade-Jones. “Despite this, London continues to rank as a global prime property superpower and we’re now seeing signs of the high-end London market starting to accelerate through the gears.”

“London continues to rank as a global prime property superpower”

Further recent research by international property and citizenship specialist Astons shows how house prices in London have climbed on average by £34,526 since the end of 2019, with pockets in the capital recording far more impressive growth. The highest increase has been in the prestigious W1 postcode where house prices have increased by circa £500,000 for the same period.

The Barnes postcode of SW13 also has seen a notable uplift, with homes there now worth £207,971 more than they were prior to the pandemic. The neighbouring postcodes of SE21 (+£119,354) and SE27 (+£110,751) have also seen some of the largest increases, along with SE7 (+119,854).

“While many domestic buyers have been romanticizing about dreams of moving to the countryside, London has remained very attractive to foreign buyers, in particular,” said Managing Director of Astons, Arthur Sarkisian. “This demand has been largely driven by the desire to complete before an increase in stamp duty on foreign purchases come April. As a result, some areas of the London market have seen sharp uplifts in property values despite the continued threat of Covid and the resulting lockdown restrictions.”