Property price in central London listed as world's third most expensive

LONDON, Feb. 9 (Chinese media) -- The property price at prime central London has been listed as the third most expensive in the world after Monte Carlo.

With a price tag at 20,756 U.S. dollars per square meter, prime central London area won the third place on the list of World's Most Expensive Residential Real Estate Markets 2009, almost half the 45,000 dollars per square meter price of Monte Carlo, in Monaco, according to the latest Global Property Guide available here on Monday.

London residential property prices have fallen for much of 2008,while Moscow property price declines only started in the last quarter, allowing Moscow to catch up with London. Both countries have experienced strong currency declines.

Also on the top 10 list, Japan ranks the fourth at 20,756 dollars per square meter, to be allowed by Hong Kong, at 16,125 dollars per square meter. New York is the only U.S. city included in the survey, ranked sixth, with an average price of 15,000 dollar per square meter.

Completing the top 10 most expensive real estate markets are two European cities -- Paris at seventh and Rome at ninth -- as well as two other Asian countries or cities, Singapore at eighth and Mumbai, India at 10th.

The figures are based on the average price of a 120 square meter, good-condition high-end used apartment in the city centers of more than 110 cities around the world, typically the economic centers where most foreigners are likely to buy. Data were collected during 2008, when the U.S. dollar exchange rate used is that of Jan. 27, 2009.

For global bargain hunters, the guide suggests several places in the Middle East, Latin America and Asia, where property prices are relatively cheap.

Cairo, Egypt is one of the cheapest cities in the world, with prime city center prices at around 600 dollars per square meter. Another Middle Eastern capital in the bottom 10 is Amman, Jordan, with average city center prices at 1,150 dollars per square meter.

Three Asian cities are included in the 10 cheapest. They are Bangalore in India, Chengdu in China and Jakarta in Indonesia, all located in rapidly growing and heavily populated countries.

Chengdu, damaged during the magnitude 8 earthquake in 2008, remains a vital economic, transportation and communication hub in the heartland of China.

Indonesia was the last country to recover from the 1997 Asian financial crisis. However, the guide believes that the economic reforms implemented by the current administration are setting the stage for steady economic growth.

Concepcion and Santiago in Chile, Quito in Ecuador, Managua in Ecuador, and Lima in Peru are five Latin American cities that complete the list of 10 cheapest cities for property buyers.

The guide which studies the trend of global property adds that the recent house price boom and bust defeated the traditional notion that real estate prices are based primarily on local conditions.

The relatively low cost and ease of moving capital around the world has made it easier for people to invest in real estate markets in several countries. This is complemented by the relatively lower cost of international air transport. Several countries have also removed foreign ownership restrictions, a move encouraged by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and the European Union.

The result of these changes, says the guide, has been a remarkable increase in cross country real estate investments -- helping make the boom, and the bust, truly global.