How much living space $1 million buys around the world

• Monaco is the most expensive market for prime property, costing over $5,800 per square foot.
• Knight Frank released its annual wealth report and looked at high-end real estate around the world.
• Hong Kong, Singapore, London, Geneva, and New York also ranked high for expensive prime property.

In Monaco, where you would need nearly $12.9 million to be in the top 1%, a square foot in a prime property costs over $5,800.

The new 2024 Wealth Report by property broker Knight Frank determined that Monaco is the most expensive market for prime residential property at 172 square feet per $1 million, or 16 square meters. Knight Frank defined prime property as "the most desirable and most expensive property in a given location, generally defined as the top 5% of each market by value."

Knight Frank compiled data for 100 luxury residential markets into its Prime International Residential Index, or PIRI 100. 80 of those markets recorded flat or positive yearly price growth. Luxury prices on the whole increased 3.1% on average in 2023, with major growth in Manila and Dubai.

In Hong Kong, 237 square feet of prime property totaled $1 million, meaning each square foot costs $4,219. Per the report, the top 1% of Hong Kong residents have nearly $3.1 million in wealth.

Singapore, London, Geneva, and New York were all in the mid-300s for square feet of prime property per $1 million, followed by Los Angeles and Paris in the low-400s.

Thirteen cities studied by Knight Frank were below 1,000 square feet per $1 million.

When analyzing second-home locations, Aspen topped the list at 215 square feet of prime property, or 20 square meters. According to Zillow estimates, the average Aspen home value is nearly $3.3 million.

Also topping the second-home list was Verbier, Switzerland, at 301 square feet of prime property per $1 million, and St. Tropez, France, at 344 square feet. Many of the most expensive cities were in Spain, France, Italy, and the Caribbean.

The report found that to be in the top 1% by wealth, Americans need $5.8 million in net worth. This cutoff is up from $5.1 million last year, driven by the nation's robust economy. North America added 7.2% more ultra-high net worth individuals, or those with a net worth of at least $30 million.

Have you recently moved or considered moving to one of these countries or cities? Reach out to this reporter at [email protected].