CBRE has published its list of the 50 most expensive cities in the world and not unexpectedly London remains at the apex with an average rent of $299.54 per square foot. Moscow follows at second place at $232.37 with Tokyo taking both 3rd and 5th place due it being broken down by “inner central” and “outer central”. 4th place goes to Mumbai (Bombay) in India. The US does not figure anywhere in the top ten (tenth spot goes to Dubai) with most expensive American city being New York (Midtown Manhattan) at $103.43. The next US city in the list, Los Angeles barely makes the cut at #48 with average rents of $62.06.
The list is illustrative of values in allied real estate endeavors including hotels and residential but only partially so. The high rents likely indicate a strong hotel market as is the case with New York and, of course, London and Moscow but hotel rates in those cities have a different pecking order (depending on the survey) with Moscow topping the list followed by New York. London, somewhat surprisingly, takes tenth place. With New York hotel rates seemingly at a disconnect relative to office rental rates, it is unsurprising that the development pipeline for the Big Apple is long.