It is easy to be very UK centric about property prices. We can look at the fact that the average property price is £240,000 (August 2020), the price rises that have followed the first lockdown and some of the the enormous values in central London. The message is often the same, first time buyers are finding it harder and harder in the UK to get on the ladder.
But how does the UK compare to the rest of the world for property prices?
- Most Expensive Countries
A recent study Finder looked at the average property price of a city centre 2 bed flat across the globe. This survey found that the UK ranks 13th out of the 99 countries reviewed, with an average price of £254,000 against a global average of £148,000.
The highest was Hong Kong where the equivalent sized apartment would cost a staggering £1,388,000, followed Singapore (£866,000), Switzerland (£501,000), South Korea £478,000) and Japan (£391,000).
Obviously prices are connected to wages, but it would be hard to believe that wages are 5.5 times more in Hong Kong than they may be in UK.
- Most Expensive Cities
The UK may lie in 13th place on average, but London came out as 3rd in the world when looking at cities. Indeed it was still the most expensive city in Europe. Following Hong Kong and Singapore was London with an average price of £758,000 for a flat.
This demonstrates how London is such a breed apart from the rest of the UK.
- Cheapest Places
At the other end of the survey, the cheapest place to buy a 2 bed city centre flat was Pakistan at £29,000. This was followed Venezuela (£30,000), Egypt (£33,000), Tunisia (£35,000) and then Uzbekistan (£39,000).
In conclusion, it is very tough for first time buyers to buy in the UK, especially if in London. But this problem is not unique to here, indeed young people seem to have an even harder problem in other countries across the globe to buy property.
