Revealed: The most expensive streets in the world

‘Location, location and location’ - a phrase we often hear from real estate experts. If you want to buy a house, location, is perhaps the most important thing that one should consider. Renovation work and other frills can be done but the scope of appreciation is very much dependent where exactly you buy realty – whether a nest for yourself or as an investment.

Many wealthy individuals or families in the UAE and the region like to buy property across big cities in the world. If you are considering buying a property, here is a list of the very popular and of course the most expensive streets in the world.

The trend to buy property on the most sought after streets is catching up and according to data from Knight Frank published by Billionaire, a sister company of Wealth-X, the world’s leading ultra-high net worth (UHNW) intelligence firm,  the world’s wealthiest individuals are buying homes on these top streets.

According to the recently released Wealth-X and UBS Billionaire Census 2013, the total real-estate holdings of the world’s billionaires is estimated at $169 billion, which equates to an average of $78 million per billionaire.

Billionaires own an average of four homes, many of which are based in trophy cities such as London, New York and Paris.

“The highest echelons of society grew their assets by over 5 per cent last year according to our research, and at this level of wealth there are few forced sales of real estate. The cachet of buying a trophy property on a famous street is clear. But annual price rises in many of these exclusive neighborhoods demonstrates that owners can increasingly afford to wait for an offer they can’t refuse,” said the report.

“The appeal of super-prime property has rarely been higher,” said Liam Bailey, head of residential research at Knight Frank, “Rising demand for the best properties in the best locations has been set against tight demand, with limited new supply.”

The streets were ranked on the basis of average price per square metre. Rises in price include currency fluctuations. Take a read.

1. Pollock’s Path, The Peak, Hong Kong - Average price per square metre:S$120,000 (HK$930,670), Price change year on year: +10%, Neighbours: movie star Stephen Chow, HSBC top brass.

2. Kensington Palace Gardens, London, UK - Average price per square metre: $107,000 (£69,900), Price change year on year: +2%, Neighbours: The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (and new Prince George), Lakshmi Mittal, Bernie Ecclestone’s daughter Tamara.

3. Avenue Princesse Grace, Monaco - Average price per square metre: $86,000 (€65,000), Price change year on year: +5%, Neighbours: Andrea Bocelli, Roger Moore, Lewis Hamilton, Helena Christensen.

4. Boulevard du Général de Gaulle, Cap Ferrat, France - Average price per square metre: $79,000 (€60,000), Price change year on year: -5%, Neighbours: Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie; David Niven and Paul Allen reportedly own holiday homes, as did Charlie Chaplin.

5. Paterson Hill, Singapore - Average price per square metre: $42,500 (SGD$53,800), Price change year on year: +6.5%, Neighbours: Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin and former Miss Singapore beauty queen Rachel Kum.

6. Chemin de Ruth, Geneva, Switzerland - Average price per square metre: $37,000 (CHF 30,000), Price change year on year: -5%, Neighbours: France’s Peugeot family, former French tennis player Henri Leconte and former French alpine-skier Jean-Claude Killy.

7. Romazzino Hill, Sardinia - Average price per square metre: $32,900 (€25,000), Price change year on year: stable, Neighbours: Saudi Arabian politician Ahmed Zaki Yamani, Ural steel tycoon Alexei Mordashov, Qatar royal family members.

8. Ostozhenka, Moscow, Russia - Average price per square metre: $29,000, Price change year on year: +3.6%, Record price: $48 million, Neighbours: Russian oligarch Alisher Usmanov.

9. Fifth Avenue, New York, US - Average price per square metre: $28,000, Price change year on year: +5.4%, Neighbours: Bill Murray, Tom Brokaw.

10. Avenue Montaigne, Paris, France - Average price per square metre: $26,000 (€20,000), Price change year on year: -3%, Neighbours: Canadian Embassy, Marlene Dietrich (before her death in 1992).

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