Real estate.
Sixteen square meters in Monaco, a chalet only some can buy in Gstaad, a lake that rose 9.2% in a year. What the old addresses cost, measured the same way everywhere.
Sixteen square meters in Monaco, a chalet only some can buy in Gstaad, a lake that rose 9.2% in a year. What the old addresses cost, measured the same way everywhere.
16 m²What US$1 million bought in Monaco, end of 2025
Knight Frank, the London property consultancy, measures how much prime property US$1 million buys in each city. At the end of 2025 it ran from 16 square meters in Monaco to 62.2 in Dubai, where the same money bought 182.8 square meters 5 years earlier.
| City | Space, 2025 | Change since 2020 |
|---|---|---|
 | 16.0 m²17.3 m² in 2020 | -8% |
 | 22.5 m²22.6 m² in 2020 | 0% |
 | 27.9 m²37.2 m² in 2020 | -25% |
 | 28.1 m²36.2 m² in 2020 | -22% |
 | 32.9 m²30.7 m² in 2020 | +7% |
 | 33.9 m²34.9 m² in 2020 | -3% |
 | 37.1 m²41.9 m² in 2020 | -11% |
 | 58.1 m²97.0 m² in 2020 | -40% |
 | 62.2 m²182.8 m² in 2020 | -66% |
Square meters of prime residential property that US$1 million buys, at the end of each year. A fall in space means a rise in prices. Source: Knight Frank, The Wealth Report 2026.
+9.2%Lake Como, prime prices in the year to Q2 2026
In Knight Frank's European figures of August 2026, €1 million bought about 19 square meters in Monaco, 30 on Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat and about 37 in London and Geneva. Prime prices on Lake Como rose 9.2% in the year to the second quarter of 2026, the strongest in Europe, and in Marbella they rose 8.5%, where €1 million still bought almost 100 square meters.
5 yearsBefore a holiday home bought under Lex Koller can be resold
Switzerland limits who may buy. Under the federal law known as Lex Koller, people who do not live in Switzerland are generally barred from buying residential property. The exception is a holiday home in designated tourist areas of certain cantons, within annual federal quotas. It cannot be resold for 5 years, or placed in a trust. That is the rule behind a chalet in Gstaad or St. Moritz.
The price of the house is half of the decision. The other half is the tax where the buyer lives now against the tax where they are buying, the property tax there and what is left each year. Patrician.ch sets those side by side for the 100 places on the board.
Monaco🇲🇨 Monaco
Geneva🇨🇭 Switzerland
London🇬🇧 United Kingdom
Dubai🇦🇪 UAE
Miami🇺🇸 Florida, United States
Lake Como🇮🇹 ItalySources. Knight Frank, The Wealth Report 2026, via Relocate Magazine · Knight Frank, Europe's prime residential markets, August 2026 · Bär & Karrer, Lex Koller and holiday homes, June 2026. Read October 2026. A record of places, houses and dates, published as research. Patrician.ch has no commercial relationship with any house named here. Photographs from Unsplash and Pexels, used under their licenses.
About 16 square meters of prime property at the end of 2025, by Knight Frank's count.
It was 17.3 at the end of 2020.
62.2 square meters at the end of 2025, against 182.8 at the end of 2020, by Knight Frank's count.
Generally not, if they do not live there.
Under Lex Koller, non-residents can buy a holiday home only in designated tourist areas of certain cantons, within annual quotas, and cannot resell it for 5 years.
On Lake Como, up 9.2% in the year to the second quarter of 2026, in Knight Frank's European figures.
3.2% on average across the 100 markets of Knight Frank's PIRI 100.
Dubai rose 25.1%.
Your income, your passport and your family: the tax, the cost of living and what you keep, in 90 seconds.
The tax where they live now against where they're buying, the local property tax and what they keep, in a Buyer Brief under your name. 2 free, no card.
No. 01Monaco
No. 02The French Riviera
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No. 29Dubai and the Gulf
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No. 31Opera and music
No. 32Art and auctions
No. 33Architecture and interiors
No. 34Longevity and wellness
No. 35What a Rolex costsNo. 36What a berth in Monaco costs
No. 37Where the yachts winter
No. 38What a bespoke suit costsNo. 39What a Ferrari costs to registerThe engine takes what you earn and what you hold, then orders every address on the board against it.
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Income tax on the published 2026 rules. Social contributions, most deductions and treaties are not modeled. Figures are for a non-US single filer. Wealth tax, an exit and your passports are added when you run the engine on your own numbers. Not advice. Residence rules change often. Verify before acting.
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