# Wolrd's most expensive land prices finally cooling



## the spliff fairy (Oct 21, 2002)

I got this idea from my post on another thread:

$400,000 is cheaper than cheap in London (about $150,000 below average small property price). Even though the prices have cooled it would by you a one bed flat in a project, in the outskirts. 

What rowhousing buys you in the endless suburbs (definitely not upmarket areas either), near 10 miles from the centre. Bear in mind last year these places would have been worth $60,000 more, after a decade of climbing price hikes.
These are now seen as bargains:

www.peter-barry.co.uk

*
3 bed rowhouse $850,000









4 bed rowhouse $900,000 









5 bed semi-detached $1.7 million











However in central London, the prices go up staggeringly.
Its the most expensive land in the world:

7ft 6 inch by 3ft 4 inch studio (with toilet under the shower under the bed), $210,000.
The girl pays $290 a week for the luxury to rent it, a former wardrobe.









6ft by 12ft sized room unfurnished, $345,000









single room studio in this rowhouse, $610,000










2 bedrooms, ex stables block in row (stoop to get in the door): $6 million









ex-office, needs total refurbishment and conversion (and windows?), end of row $6 million









5 bed rowhouse, $12 million









6 bed, end of row:
$13.22 million









large end of row, unspecified bedrooms, $50 million









12 bed but possibility for up to 40, single rowhouse (every 5 windows along is a new house): $120 million








^These very rarely come on the market, one offer of $400 million was refused though it would have made it the most expensive property on the planet.

12 bed detached mansion (no rowhouse mate), $128 million










penthouse overlooking Hyde Park, $210 million (normal flat here $50-170 million)
















*

^It is thought that each flat is fitted with bullet-resistant walls and windows. There is underground parking for 115 vehicles and private lifts direct to each residence The site will also have an underground passage to the near-by Mandarin Oriental hotel, where 36 staff will be on hand to cater to residents’ needs.

*Unbuilt conversion of an art deco office into 6 apartments, in St James' district, $240 million the lot, the most expensive property sold in the world:

Here:

http://property.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/property/article3559490.ece

*

Large upmarket districts include Chelsea , Kightsbridge, Holland Park, Clerkenwell, Kensington, St James', Marylebone, Fitzrovia, Piccadilly, Mayfair, Bloomsbury, Notting Hill, Hampstead, Highgate, St John's Wood, Richmond, Twickenham, Kew and Belgravia:

Chelsea and Knightsbridge:


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## the spliff fairy (Oct 21, 2002)

Its not what the prices are, but what you get for them, bearing in mind British homes are far smaller than North American counterparts:

May 2008

Greater London
Average Cost: £358,500
Detached: £754,485
Semi-detached: £408,264
Terraced: £377,503
Flat: £307,063


Change in last quarter: 0.6%
Change in last year: 5.5%
Sales: 22576


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## Xusein (Sep 27, 2005)

:hammer:

I always knew that London prices were outrageous, but this is ridiculous. But at least prices are falling.


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## Cunning Linguist (Apr 27, 2006)

Apart from planning permission, I still don't understand why London doesn't build upwards. There is definitely the demand for high rise living there. Obviously you get all the negative connotations associated with high rise flats in the UK, but if done a la NY or HK, I'm sure people would rather live in luxury flats which are cheaper than the equivalent low rise.


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## the spliff fairy (Oct 21, 2002)

Random London prices

bunch of grapes, $12
entry to a nightclub on Saturday (and 500,000 happily pay), $40 ($20-30 any other night)
cocktail, $24
bottle of beer in a bar $6
single entrance ticket to 15 (out of 650) Buckingham Palace rooms: $32
cheap single hotel bed in centre $110
*
London Stansted - Krakow by cheap airline return $5 air fare + $60 in taxes
shuttle train from centre to Stansted airport return $55.00, $160-$210 by taxi one way*
artist's paintbrush $50-$80 depending on size
single rose $10, bunch of roses $500
gallon of petrol $10
8 hrs parking $36 edge of the centre
daily charge to drive into central London $17, $50 for SUV, $400 for high polluting goods vehicle

*parking space in Hertfordshire 'ideal for London commuters', $52,000









underground parking space in Knightsbridge $200,000
parking space by Harrods dept store, Knightsbridge, $510,000
private garage in Chelsea $610,000*


*
Building costs are also the most expensive in the world:*
new 'super' hospital (read: normal hospital), $4.5 billion
9 storey office block in Fitzrovia, $1 billion (more than WTC)









new Thames sewer tunnel, $4.2 billion
upgrading the London-Glasgow line to high speed (345 miles), $30 billion

RIP OFF!

According to the National stats office the average salary in London is $86,000 a year ($210,000 in the richer areas). If however you read between the lines as there are literally millions of millionaires, the real wage for the average Londoner is about $50,000.


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## Chrissib (Feb 9, 2008)

Cunning Linguist said:


> Apart from planning permission, I still don't understand why London doesn't build upwards. There is definitely the demand for high rise living there. Obviously you get all the negative connotations associated with high rise flats in the UK, but if done a la NY or HK, I'm sure people would rather live in luxury flats which are cheaper than the equivalent low rise.


In London (especially in the richer parts) there are much historical buildings that you can't tear down. If you wan't to build highrises, you have to build it on new developed space or in some other open spaces.


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## Tom_Lisboa (Jul 6, 2007)

Cascais, Lisbon, Portugal:









Estoril Sol, it will cost 8500 euros/m², the most expensive in Portugal:


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## Koen Acacia (Apr 17, 2007)

With all respect, but I kinda doubt that this thread will be gaining a lot if every country on the planet would start posting their "Look, we have expensive apartments too!" contribution.
It's just not that kind of thread....


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## hkskyline (Sep 13, 2002)

To think a former home for 1 family in South Kensington can be divided into 10 "modern" homes today begs to wonder how far we have progressed.


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## OtAkAw (Aug 5, 2004)

I might sound ignorant but oh my goodness, habitation in London is unbelievably expensive!

*Here where I live you could get a 3-bedroom apartment with garage for $139 a month.


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## ChrisZwolle (May 7, 2006)

Dutch student rooms go for like 350 - 400 dollars per month. Small one/two person apartments in the suburbs go for $ 550 per months. 

$ 400,000 is considered a starters home in my city. You have like 3 bedrooms and a small yard in the suburban parts of Zwolle, a city of 116,000 inhabitants. 

Lots of people are actually moving just across the border in Germany and Belgium, because housing is much more affordable there. For half the money you'll often have a bigger house.


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## Tombs (Sep 9, 2007)

Well i've been living below the breadline in London for the past 4 years and let me tell you, yes life in London is really fucking hard sometimes. It's not easy, you've just basically got to work work work your head off as hard as you can to even be able to save up anything, otherwise 99.9% of your income just goes on basic necessities. I've met Eastern European immigrants who live on about £130 a week. I've met French immigrants who work 3 or 4 different part-time jobs a day, it's absolutely insane. But for goodness sakes, a bunch of grapes does NOT cost 12 pounds! Show me a bunch of grapes being sold for £12 ANYWHERE in ANY SHOP which is not frequented often by members of the royal family and I will go so fucking mad that I might actually end up buying them.

But yeah, I think that the ridiculous cost of living in London is, bizarrely one of the reasons why people are drawn to London. It's a challenge. If you can survive it, then you feel smug with yourself for having conquered whatever London can throw at you. Basically you become climatized to the cost and after a while it just doesn't seem so expensive any more. Rich people on the other hand love it because it gives them prestige and exclusivity knowing that they can actually afford what London has to offer. Two very different realities.


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## trainrover (May 6, 2006)

Cunning Linguist said:


> Apart from planning permission, I still don't understand why London doesn't build upwards.


Coz maybe the resultant soaring cost of real estate would be too much to adjust to there?





the spliff fairy said:


> According to the National stats office the average salary in London is $86,000 a year ($210,000 in the richer areas). If however you read between the lines as there are literally millions of millionaires, the real wage for the average Londoner is about $50,000.


Fudging stats happens there too, huh? Too much. Any likelihood of those bureaucrats of yours being Canadian?


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## princeofseoul (Jun 8, 2004)

100,000$ per square meter to live in a closet.. what a pathetic price. No way I'll ever live there.


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## trainrover (May 6, 2006)

^^ Why not? With folks becoming less and less bothered to be passing time outside there homes and workplaces, why _not_ charge buyers/renters extra money for their --uhm-- downtime? For instance, I hear of Yorkville ads plying their local real estate in the 7-9-million-$ range for folks who shan't be bothered to step outside -- no wonder that even that Toronto district's shopkeepers (e.g., Hazleton Lanes) are taking to ballling away at the few pedestrians there to enter and browse (sounds like it must be becoming like Seattle's Pike St fish market)....

Sorry, my response was supposed to be that you're gonna be finding yerself with less and less freedom to choose whereabouts to live (still a fair way off, mind you).


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## emathias (Feb 20, 2006)

trainrover said:


> Coz maybe the resultant soaring cost of real estate would be too much to adjust to there?
> ...


Odd, given the name of this site, but I don't think you understand how high-rises work, economically.


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## trainrover (May 6, 2006)

^^ Uh oh! it seems you've blown a fuse at supposing the validaty of my question mark. hno:


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## emathias (Feb 20, 2006)

the spliff fairy said:


> ...
> *Unbuilt conversion of an art deco office into 6 apartments, in St James' district, $240 million each, the most expensive property sold in the world:
> 
> Here:
> ...


*

Well, given we're talking about England and all, I figure it's appropriate to ask if you're fluent in English given that a careful reading of the article reveals that the price of all six flats together was about $240 million, not $240 million each.

Granted, that's still a helluva lot of money, but it is also a factor of six different from your claim.

I also think you should use the local currency to talk about prices, not the US dollar. The Dollar may be the world's currency, but given its recent sharp decline it's not really the best candidate for comparisons that it used to be.*


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## Tom_Green (Sep 4, 2004)

Such prices are way too much.

If i had 100mio€ to spend on property i would not spend all of it on one place.
I think the tallest apartment in the Trump Tower costs only 30mio. 
I would buy an apartment in the Trump Tower, Chicago Spire, Burj Dubai, Roppongi Hills and some "small" mansions around Japan for that money.


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## the spliff fairy (Oct 21, 2002)

emathias said:


> Well, given we're talking about England and all, I figure it's appropriate to ask if you're fluent in English given that a careful reading of the article reveals that the price of all six flats together was about $240 million, not $240 million each.
> 
> Granted, that's still a helluva lot of money, but it is also a factor of six different from your claim.
> 
> I also think you should use the local currency to talk about prices, not the US dollar. The Dollar may be the world's currency, but given its recent sharp decline it's not really the best candidate for comparisons that it used to be.



Oh right, Ill edit the post.


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