10 most expensive markets for real estate

To most people, New York City has become an otherworldly real estate market. It’s the town where a skyrise condo just sold for more than $50 million—and it was only that cheap because it was raw space.

But to the global rich, New York is a bargain.

A new report shows that on a per-square-foot basis, New York is half price compared to some other favorite cities of the rich.

The Knight Frank Wealth Report shows that the tiny, tony principality of Monaco remains the most world’s expensive real estate market. The report found that $1 million will only get you 15 square meters of space, or about 160 square feet. So you could buy a $1 million bedroom—and presumably share a bathroom and kitchen with other property-poor millionaires.

In New York, that same $1 million gets you a whopping 30 square meters of space, or about 430 square feet. That puts New York down at number six on the list, below Monaco, Hong Kong, London, Singapore and Geneva.

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“New York is a definite bargain from the global marketplace perspective,” said Dolly Lenz, founder of Dolly Lenz Real Estate in New York. “It’s not a bargain from the perspective of New Yorkers who have seen the prices quadruple over the past 20 years. But the wealthy look more globally, and when they compare these cities, New York is great value.”