Expat rent prices – worldwide city ranking 2009

Despite the real-estate crisis that has hit many countries, the rent prices paid by expats are still very high and often much higher than the local rent prices.

Housing is a crucial element for an expatriation; therefore many companies seriously consider their expats’ living conditions.

EuroCost International specializes in conducting specific expat surveys relating to expats in more than two hundred cities around the world. Although real estate markets can vary a lot from one country to another, we publish every year a city ranking per type of housing. This month’ ranking focuses on the most expensive cities in the world regarding the two- and three-bedroom flats.

1	JAPAN	Tokyo
2	CHINA	Hong Kong
3	UNITED-KINGDOM	London
4	RUSSIA	Moscow
5	INDIA	Mumbai
6	ANGOLA	Luanda
7	UNITED-STATES	New York
8	JAPAN	Osaka
9	SINGAPORE	Singapore
10	UKRAINE	Kiev
11	UNITED ARAB EMIRATES	Abu Dhabi
12	UNITED ARAB EMIRATES	Dubai
13	FRANCE	Paris
14	UNITED-STATES	San Francisco, CA
15	NETHERLANDS	Amsterdam
16	CHINA	Shangai
17	CHINA	Beijing
18	SWITZERLAND	Geneva
19	INDONESIA	Jakarta
20	ITALY	Rome

In 2009, our top 20 worldwide ranking shows various significant changes.

First of all, London, that was last year’s most expensive city, is now ranking 3rd, mainly due to the pound sterling drop.

London has been overtaken by Tokyo, due to the yen strengthening which has resulted in increasing rent prices for expats. Japan is also represented with Osaka, ranking in 8^th position.

The 2^nd position is held by Hong-Kong, still among the countries with the highest rent prices in the world, like Moscow or New York, ranking 4^th and 7^th respectively.

Mumbai is a newcomer in the top 20 (5^th), which confirms the rapid development of this city, and more generally of India, in the last few years.

Luanda (6^th) is the first and only African city in these top 20. The year 2008 saw an ongoing increase in rent prices, in spite of their already high levels and due in particular to a shortage in good quality housing.

Another significant change is the presence of eight Asian cities in this ranking.
In addition to the cities already mentioned (Tokyo, Hong Kong, Mumbai and Osaka), add the cities of Singapore (9^th), Shanghai (16^th), Beijing (17^th) and Jakarta which still ranks 19^th in spite of a slight fall compared to last year ranking.

Europe appears as the second most-represented region, with seven cities in our ranking. Behind London, Moscow comes to 4^th position, with very expensive rents for well-located flats. We note the same situation in Kiev (10^th), where prices for expat housing are very high in comparison to the local rents.

The other European cities are no exceptions to our usual rankings: Paris (13^th), Amsterdam (15^th), Geneva (18^th) and Rome (20^th).

Please note that Amsterdam’s position comes from the fact that expats have no choice but to use private rentals. Due to a lack of time to find an accommodation, they do not have access to the same low price offer as the local population.

The weakness of the dollar compared to the euro explains that only two American cities appear in our ranking: New York, already mentioned, and San Francisco ranking 14^th.
However, this could change in the next few months because of the current dollar strengthening.

Two cities of the United Arab Emirates, Abu Dhabi and Dubaï, rank in 11^th and 12^th position.
The spectacular property market development in those 2 cities has generated incredible increases in rent prices. In Abu Dhabi, for example, the rent prices for expats have increased by 40% in one year.

Specific expat surveys

Our data reflects the local rental market for expats and therefore differs from the local rental market.

Areas selected for our surveys are the residential areas frequented by expats.

We collect prices for different types of housing, from studios to large detached houses, but these can be adapted to the specificity of each country. In a country where all expats live in houses, our survey will only report house prices.

All dwellings considered range from good to very good quality to ensure that expats benefit from comfortable living conditions.

Prices are collected in the currency used for the payment of the rent (very often USD’s or in Euros rather than in local currency).

Our rent surveys are usually provided separately from the cost of living index to fully meet the needs of our customers, but rent prices can be included in our indices.