World’s Prime Real Estate

Over the past 20 years, I have been fortunate enough to have traveled far and wide and visit many countries and major cities. Recently, I read the Wealth World Report 2009 compiled by Knight Frank, which presented The Global Top Ten of residential real estate.

Not to say that I have personal knowledge of real estate in many major financial centers in the world, but this survey revealed some incredible residential real estate numbers in comparison to the Miami market. Miami clearly did not rank in the Top Ten in terms of price per square foot, not even close. However, the survey did reveal that you will pay through the teeth to live in many of the globe’s financial centers, and comparatively speaking, prime real estate in Miami Beach is  simply a  fraction of the cost.

This survey revealed the following average prices for the world’s prime real estate as follows:

 

The survey also ranked the World Top Cities based on four criteria; Economic Activity, Political Power, Knowledge and Influence, and Quality of Life. While London, New York, Paris, Tokyo, and Los Angeles, rounded out the top five, Miami ranked 29th out of 40. Although the “Quality of Life” ranking for Miami was a dismal 31 as compared to LA’s score of 9, which I definitely question, I think that our presence in the top 40 is an achievement for our city.

I say it to our clients over and over again, you cannot compare the value that you can buy in Miami today to that of ten or twenty years ago. Additionally, when considering the cost of luxury Miami Beach real estate versus some of these major cities, the price of your second home is even more attractive than ever.