MARKET REPORT:MONACO HAS overtaken London for the first time as the most expensive city location for prime property, according to new research.

The Knight Frank international property index reveals that prime property in Monaco is worth €50,000 or more per square metre, compared to a value of €28,000 per sq m in London during 2008.

Third in the league is New York where the super rich are paying €16,500 per sq m for a prime property.

Just behind New York is Moscow where prime property fetched €16,200 per sq m and Paris with prices at €16,000 per sq m in 2008.

Overall the report, published this week, made for grim reading. By the final quarter of 2008 prices had either stalled or fallen in 75 per cent of all 55 locations featured in the international residential index.

The report also indicates how quickly once buoyant markets can turn.

Property prices in Dubai rose by almost 11 per cent overall in 2008, but fell by 19 per cent in the final quarter of the year.

Overall Hong Kong saw the sharpest annual drop (-24.5 per cent), but prices for residential properties rose in Bangkok by 22.5 per cent.

The index forms part of the Knight Frank/Citi Private Bank Wealth Report, which indicates that over 90 per cent of high net worth individuals (HNWIs) experienced a fall in the value of their property portfolios last year.

It is interesting to note, however, that only 5 per cent of these report that they are “very concerned” about this fall in value, according to the survey.

Also the report indicates that close to 55 per cent of these super wealthy individuals plan to “increase their exposure to residential property as an investment over the next two years”.