Unit 5.5 – Location, Location, Location

I lived in London for 17 years before moving over to Hong Kong in the summer of 2000. According to the 2009 Knight Frank World Cities Survey, London has topped the charts for the world’s most desirable place to live; HK is ranked 14th! However, which of these cities has higher residential property prices?

The Knight Frank World Cities Survey’s “The Wealth Report 2009”, shows that London has the second most expensive residential prices. Monaco tops the global list with average residential prices fetching €50,000 per square metre (or almost £4,500 per square foot!) The top 10 most expensive places in the world to buy a home are shown below (prices are in per square metre):

One key factor to business location is the price of residential property. Property prices not only have an impact on the pool of labour in a particular location, but will also affect the remuneration costs (such as housing allowance) for many businesses.

For the full report, visit http://www.knightfrank.co.uk/press/Wealth-Report-2009-Press-Release.aspx