Just what does a million dollars buy a wealthy expat looking for a home in one of the world’s thriving cities?
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Not as much as you would like to think, according to research by international property consultants Knight Frank.
Researchers looked at real estate listings in 20 cities and found that $1 million would buy a 16 square metre postage stamp plot in the most expensive city – Monaco, nestling between France’s Riviera and Italy.
To rub shoulders with the world’s wealthy in Monaco means shelling out several million dollars for a modest two bedroom apartment.
To give some idea of size, 16 square metres is a single room four metres long by four metres.
Cities with other micro-sized homes are Hong Kong (22 square metres), New York and London (Both 31 sq m) Singapore (36 sq m) and Los Angeles (36 sq m).
Swish apartment or a mini mansion?
In Hong Kong, a million dollars typically buys a single bedroom apartment in a 24-floor high rise development, says the company.
In New York or London, the cash buys a swish one bedroom apartment in a prime neighbourhood.
At the other end of the scale, Sao Paulo, Brazil, measured up much better, with a million dollars buying 200 square metres of floorspace.
Expats can also buy sizeable plots in Cape Town (177 sq m), Dubai (143 sq m), Istanbul (109 sq m) and Mumbai (100 sq m).
In Cape Town, South Africa, expats get a lot of bang for their million bucks. Typically, a seven bedroom detached mansion with a huge 2,750 square metre garden complete with swimming pool, a couple of cottages to rent out and parking for six cars.
The rest of the cities in the survey all came in with property of less than 100 square metres for a million dollars.
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