A million dollars isn’t worth much in the world’s most expensive real estate markets.
According to the 2024 Knight Frank Wealth Report, $1 million would buy just 16 square meters of prime property in Monaco, the small but extremely wealthy country perched on the Mediterranean coast.
For context, a typical studio or one-bedroom apartment is about 500 square feet, according to the apartment listing. They are approximately 46 square meters. So, in other words, $1 million would theoretically allow you to buy a one-bedroom in Monaco.
According to a report by Savills, over the past decade the number of resale properties sold with prices above 10 million euros, or about $10.8 million, has increased by more than 300% in Monaco.
Over the past year, the share of properties sold in Monaco above that price has been more than 50%.
In Hong Kong, $1 million would buy just 22 square meters of prime property; in Singapore you would get 32 square metres.
According to a report by the Urban Land Institute Asia Pacific Center for Housing, the average house price in Hong Kong in 2023 was $1.16 million, while in Singapore it was $1.2 million. Singapore also offers government-subsidized housing, which is much cheaper, at an average price of $409,000.
By comparison, $1 million would go much more in New York and Los Angeles, two of the most expensive American real estate markets, where you could buy 34 and 38 square meters of prime property respectively, Knight Frank found.
The Knight Frank Wealth Report, released on Wednesday, focuses on luxury price movements in the world’s major residential markets.
“There is significant variation in prime prices across luxury residential markets, which often surprises buyers,” the report states.
“Prime prices in Dubai may be 134% higher than at the start of the pandemic, but are still significantly lower than in more established markets,” the authors noted. “Here, with 1 million dollars you can buy 91 [square meters]four times the equivalent of Hong Kong.”
But for the world’s richest, aka the top 1%, buying such homes is probably a no-brainer. In the United States, those in the top 1% have a net worth of about $5.8 million or more, according to the report.
Related: These are the most expensive zip codes in the United States for home buyers