To mortgage-stretched Londoners, it won’t be news that the capital has been named as having the most expensive property in Europe – but for Britain as a whole the story is very different.
The United Kingdom only made it into fourth place in a list of most expensive properties, with an average price of £3,300 per square metre. Luxembourg takes top place at £4,500, followed by Sweden, £4,000, and France at £3,400.
A survey by online estate agent eMoov of 28 EU members and five candidates for membership found the average price across Europe is £2,000 per sq m, and the bottom four places among EU members are taken by Greece, at £1000 per sq m, Hungary at £900, Romania on £800 and Bulgaria, at £600, where its capital Sofia was also the cheapest capital at £700 per sq m.
Russell Quirk, CEO of eMoov, says: “This research highlights that despite the London bubble, there are other areas across Europe where prices outperform that of the United Kingdom.”
In London, property costs an average of £12,400 per square metre, more than double the price in Paris, which scooped second place with £6,000 per sq m.
In capital cities across the rest of the UK, Belfast property costs an average of £2,200 per sq m, while Cardiff and Glasgow are £1,600, making them the 15th, 20th and 21st most expensive capitals in the list.
The average price of property per square metre in capitals across the whole of the EU is £2,900.
Prices in EU candidate countries were also low, led by Montenegro, £1,000; Serbia, £900; Turkey, £800; Macedonia and Albania where property costs just £700 per square metre.
