In 2020, Hong Kong had the most expensive residential property market worldwide, with an average property price of 1.25 million U.S. dollars. The government of Hong Kong provide public housing for lower-income residents and almost 45 percent of the Hong Kong population lived in public permanent housing in 2018.

In the United States, Hawaii was the state with the most expensive housing, with the typical value of single-family homes in the 35th to 65th percentile range exceeding ******* U.S. dollars. Unsurprisingly, Hawaii also ranked top as the state with the highest cost of living. Meanwhile, a property was the least expensive in West Virginia, where it cost under ******* U.S. dollars to buy the typical single-family home. Single-family home prices increased across most states in the United States between December 2023 and December 2024, except in Louisiana, Florida, and the District of Colombia. According to the Federal Housing Association, house appreciation in 13 states exceeded **** percent in 2023.

Geneva stands out as Europe's most expensive city for apartment purchases in early 2025, with prices reaching a staggering 15,720 euros per square meter. This Swiss city's real estate market dwarfs even high-cost locations like Zurich and London, highlighting the extreme disparities in housing affordability across the continent. The stark contrast between Geneva and more affordable cities like Nantes, France, where the price was 3,700 euros per square meter, underscores the complex factors influencing urban property markets in Europe. Rental market dynamics and affordability challenges While purchase prices vary widely, rental markets across Europe also show significant differences. London maintained its position as the continent's priciest city for apartment rentals in 2023, with the average monthly costs for a rental apartment amounting to 36.1 euros per square meter. This figure is double the rent in Lisbon, Portugal or Madrid, Spain, and substantially higher than in other major capitals like Paris and Berlin. The disparity in rental costs reflects broader economic trends, housing policies, and the intricate balance of supply and demand in urban centers. Economic factors influencing housing costs The European housing market is influenced by various economic factors, including inflation and energy costs. As of April 2025, the European Union's inflation rate stood at 2.4 percent, with significant variations among member states. Romania experienced the highest inflation at 4.9 percent, while France and Cyprus maintained lower rates. These economic pressures, coupled with rising energy costs, contribute to the overall cost of living and housing affordability across Europe. The volatility in electricity prices, particularly in countries like Italy where rates are projected to reach 153.83 euros per megawatt hour by February 2025, further impacts housing-related expenses for both homeowners and renters.

In 2025, Zakopane was the most expensive city in Poland to buy real estate. The average price of an apartment per square meter in this city was over ****** zloty.

Portugal, Canada, and the United States were the countries with the highest house price to income ratio in 2024. In all three countries, the index exceeded 130 index points, while the average for all OECD countries stood at 116.2 index points. The index measures the development of housing affordability and is calculated by dividing nominal house price by nominal disposable income per head, with 2015 set as a base year when the index amounted to 100. An index value of 120, for example, would mean that house price growth has outpaced income growth by 20 percent since 2015. How have house prices worldwide changed since the COVID-19 pandemic? House prices started to rise gradually after the global financial crisis (2007–2008), but this trend accelerated with the pandemic. The countries with advanced economies, which usually have mature housing markets, experienced stronger growth than countries with emerging economies. Real house price growth (accounting for inflation) peaked in 2022 and has since lost some of the gain. Although, many countries experienced a decline in house prices, the global house price index shows that property prices in 2023 were still substantially higher than before COVID-19. Renting vs. buying In the past, house prices have grown faster than rents. However, the home affordability has been declining notably, with a direct impact on rental prices. As people struggle to buy a property of their own, they often turn to rental accommodation. This has resulted in a growing demand for rental apartments and soaring rental prices.

This statistic shows the most expensive residential real estate sales worldwide as of April 2019. The most expensive residential property sold globally was Ho Tung Gardens on the Peak, Hong Kong, which was sold for 657.9 million U.S. dollars. The three-acre property was sold without the main building, which was demolished in 2013.

The median sales price of the existing privately owned single-family homes in the United States increased slightly in 2024. The most expensive homes were found in San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA, where the median sales price was *** million U.S. dollars. Hawaii and Delaware experienced the strongest home appreciation.

Telluride, CO, was the most expensive market for luxury single-family home market in the United States in 2025. In February that year, the median sales price of a single-family home in Telluride was 4.5 million U.S. dollars. Ft. Lauderdale, FL, and Park City, UT were other locations that fetched prices over four million U.S. dollars.

In 2020, Nantucket, Massachusetts, had the most expensive vacation homes with the median sales price reaching 2.3 million U.S. dollars. Another Massachusetts county, Barnstable, ranked third with the median vacation home selling for 475,000 U.S. dollars.

The average transaction price of new housing in Europe was the highest in Norway, whereas existing homes were the most expensive in Austria. Since there is no central body that collects and tracks transaction activity or house prices across the whole continent or the European Union, not all countries are included. To compile the ranking, the source weighed the transaction prices of residential properties in the most important cities in each country based on data from their national offices. For example, in Germany, the cities included were Munich, Hamburg, Frankfurt, and Berlin. House prices have been soaring, with Sweden topping the ranking Considering the RHPI of houses in Europe (the price index in real terms, which measures price changes of single-family properties adjusted for the impact of inflation), however, the picture changes. Sweden, Luxembourg and Norway top this ranking, meaning residential property prices have surged the most in these countries. Real values were calculated using the so-called Personal Consumption Expenditure Deflator (PCE), This PCE uses both consumer prices as well as consumer expenditures, like medical and health care expenses paid by employers. It is meant to show how expensive housing is compared to the way of living in a country. Home ownership highest in Eastern Europe The home ownership rate in Europe varied from country to country. In 2020, roughly half of all homes in Germany were owner-occupied whereas home ownership was at nearly ** percent in Romania or around ** percent in Slovakia and Lithuania. These numbers were considerably higher than in France or Italy, where homeowners made up ** percent and ** percent of their respective populations.For more information on the topic of property in Europe, visit the following pages as a starting point for your research: real estate investments in Europe and residential real estate in Europe.

The average price of detached and duplex houses in the biggest cities in Germany varied between approximately ***** euros and 10,000 euros per square meter in 2024. Housing was most expensive in Munich, where the square meter price of houses amounted to ***** euros. Conversely, Berlin was most affordable, with the square meter price at ***** euros. How have German house prices evolved? House prices maintained an upward trend for more than a decade, with 2020 and 2021 experiencing exceptionally high growth rates. In 2021, the nominal year-on-year change exceeded 10 percent. Nevertheless, the second half of 2022 saw the market slowing, with the annual percentage change turning negative for the first time in 12 years. Another way to examine the price growth is through the house price index, which uses 2015 as a base. At its peak in 2022, the German house price index measured about *** percent, which means that a house bought in 2015 would have appreciated by ** percent. Is housing affordable in Germany? Housing affordability depends greatly on income: High-income areas often tend to have more expensive housing, which does not necessarily make them unaffordable. The house price to income index measures the development of the cost of housing relative to income. In the first quarter of 2024, the index value stood at ***, meaning that since 2015, house price growth has outpaced income growth by about ** percent. Compared with the average for the euro area, this value was lower.

The most expensive home put on the market globally (outside of the U.S.) in 2020 was 24 Middle Gap Road in The Peak, Hong Kong, which was listed for 447 million U.S. dollars. This four-bedroom property sits on 16,330 square feet.

Barcelona, Madrid, and Donostia - San Sebastian were some of the most expensive cities to rent a house in Spain in February 2025. Barcelona, which is the capital of Catalonia, led the list with an average price of 23.7 euros per square meter. Madrid followed closely in the second position with an average square meter of rental residential property cost of 21.2 euros.

The most expensive home put on the market in 2020 in the United States was The One in Bel Air, California, which was listed for *** million U.S. dollars. This property has ** bedrooms and takes up an impressive 100,000 square feet, making it twice the size of the White House.

The median house price in *****, Atherton, California, was about *** million U.S. dollars. This made it the most expensive zip code in the United States in 2023. ***** Sagaponack, N.Y., was the runner-up with a median house price of about *** million U.S. dollars. Of the ** most expensive zip codes in the United States in 2026, six were in California.

In August 2024, Ostozhenka, Center of Moscow, and Arbat were the leading districts of the Russian capital in terms of apartment prices. The average price of an apartment in the Ostozhenka district was set at ******* Russian rubles per square meter.

In 2019, Hong Kong had the most expensive residential property market worldwide, with an average price per square foot of 1,987 U.S. dollars.

Hong Kong

Hong Kong, an autonomous special administrative region of China, has one of the least affordable housing markets in the world. A region with an estimated 7.49 million people, it has become increasingly difficult to purchase a home in Hong Kong. The spoken languages in Hong Kong are Cantonese, Mandarin, and English.

Hong Kong housing market

The housing market in Hong Kong has seen an increase in prices in the past couple years. There are two types of housing unit offers in Hong Kong, private and public. The number of public rental housing units has been consistently rising since 2008. Nearly half of the public rental apartments in Hong Kong as of March 2018 were between 30 and 39.9 square meters. Not only has the number of public rental housing units increased since 2008, so have the private ones. However, there are more private housing units than public ones in Hong Kong. Additionally, the Home Ownership Scheme exists in Hong Kong. It is a government sponsored program that subsidizes public housing in Hong Kong. First created in the late 1970s, it was instituted with two targets in mind. The first was to persuade the richer tenants of these apartments to leave so families in greater need could live there. The second was to allow these families to become home owners, since they did not have enough money to buy in the private sector. Under this program, the government sells apartments to qualified low-income tenants at prices below the market value.

Puerto Madero in Buenos Aires, Argentina, was one of the most expensive neighborhoods for residential property in Latin America in 2023, with an average square meter price of almost 5,500 U.S. dollars per square meter. Ipanema in Rio de Janeiro and Del Valle in Monterrey completed the top three with average price of about 4,000 U.S. dollars per square meter respectively.

The Balearic Islands, Guipúzcoa, and the Community of Madrid topped the list of provinces of Spain with the most expensive house prices in December 2023. In the Balearic Islands, the average square meter house for housing was over ***** euros. In contrast, the cheapest province to buy a property in Spain was the province of Ciudad Real.

This statistic shows the price per square foot in selected prime residential markets worldwide in 2018. Hong Kong was the most expensive residential market globally with average prime residential values of ***** U.S. dollars per square foot.