It’s a great city for very rich and demanding people, many do not even dream to go there, because it’s too expensive.
Walk through the streets and quays of this unusual city-state, and at the same time ask the price for these apartments — from modest studios to luxury penthouses defiantly.
Walk through the city on the French Riviera, where only the rich buy houses, whole buildings dot, and a square meter of housing stands as a two bedroom apartment in large megacities.
The Principality of Monaco — the dwarf (the total area of 1,974 square kilometers) the country situated on the Mediterranean sea, surrounded on the land side by the territory of France. This is both the most populous state in the world (18 thousand inhabitants per square kilometre) and the country with the world’s highest GDP per capita (about 170 thousand dollars — IMF). If you go to Monaco on the ground, then it emerges like a Mirage. After miles of little coastal towns, which are built up almost the entire côte d’azur, it is a huge residential complexes rise as if from nowhere as soon as you cross the invisible boundary between France and the Principality. Such a density does not exist anywhere else on the Mediterranean shore. According to consulting Agency Savills, last year Monaco has set its own record for real estate transactions — everything here has sold residential and commercial premises to 2.4 billion euros. According to estimates by Savills, the average cost of property in Monaco today is about 90 million euros (6 million roubles) per square meter. More expensive housing and offices cost only in Hong Kong, prices in new York, for example, a third lower.
His wealth of Monaco owes partly gambling business, which is thriving here since the mid-nineteenth century, but above all, an enabling fiscal policy. City residents pay no local taxes other than VAT (which is paid only in case of transactions of purchase and sale). The only exceptions are citizens of France, with which the Principality has a contract, not allowing it to be used as a tax haven. For the rest of the rich does not have this problem, and they are willing to acquire property here.
Almost the entire housing stock (95 % of the total area) of Monaco presented apartment, private house is uncommon and an unthinkable luxury. Scared to even think how much it might cost square meter in a two-story mansion on the site which it would be possible to build a compact dvadesetak housing from 90 thousand euros per sq. m.
Despite the very modest size of Monaco includes as many as 10 districts with the specificity, features of the building and the atmosphere. The high cost of land forces developers to scramble to the mountains, and the authorities — to expand the territory of the Principality at the expense of new plots reclaimed from the sea. For example, the district of Fontvieille (Fontvieille, a 22 ha) is entirely built on the spot where 40 years ago splashing waves.
The oldest district of Monaco — Monaco-Ville is an oasis of old buildings left jutting into the sea on a big rock. Here is the Prince’s Palace, and other tourist attractions. Despite the proximity to the court, the apartments here are not too expensive (by local standards).
The most expensive area of Monaco — Monte Carlo (there are famous casino). According to Savills, the prices of apartments here start from 4 million euros. In this part of the city has no one else like appearance: solid, 3-4 floor, the old buildings, which can be found in any major French city, here stand side by side with new residential complexes, and released in an inconspicuous bakery retired with high probability will be a multimillionaire.
The district of La Condamine (La Condamine), adjacent to the port Hercule, is an abundance of restaurants, bars, clubs — it was here that boiling night life of the city. Missing here and relatively new residential complexes with green terraces and sea views. Again happy owners of Parking places for yachts (it is more expensive than the apartment) can be aboard their ship in a matter of minutes.
Almost all the territory of Monaco is built up, so no shopping centers on the outskirts here. And in the center of town are few major shopping centers are forced to hide under ground, like this three-tier Le Metropole, the entrance to which is slightly more than the entrance to a regular station of the Moscow metro.
This precinct is in the “Casino Gardens” gave shelter public toilet, which is located in the basement of the building (entrances, however, are different).
As such green areas in Monaco a little, part of the city generally resembles a concrete jungle. And looking at some apartment buildings it is hard to imagine that the apartments in these comfortable and let pretty “chicken coops” are as much as a spacious Villa a few kilometers further West or East along the coast.
Paradoxically, but Monaco and its “industrial zone” — the inner part of the Fontvieille district (pictured 3rd Industrial street). In Monaco the industry employed as many as 3 thousand people. As a rule, small innovative companies engaged in pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, the production of components of high accuracy, etc.
The cheapest (200 thousand euros) apartment in Monaco, which we could find in the public domain, located in the heart of Cape Martin. The area of this Studio is 35 square meters, it is located on the second floor, with Windows facing the tennis court, and she has a terrace. So you live in Monaco, apparently, those who have to serve the inhabitants of the more luxurious housing.
So looks decent, though still relatively inexpensive (2.8 million euros) “odnushka” (or rather, one bedroom apartment with an area of 80 sq. m. Apartment on the fifth floor, partly seaview block standing closer to the water at home. House in the Eastern part of the city, at the border with France.
The most expensive of the found sentences is a penthouse with an area of 823 square meters (of which 467 have terraces) with 4 bedrooms and 4 Parking spaces included in the price. It costs € 59 million (4.1 billion rubles). The money in megacities can, in principle, to build a small housing estate.
You can find in Monaco and the proposal to sell commercial real estate. For example, on the website prian.ru now there are offers to buy the restaurant area of 160 sq m for 2.3 million Euro, shop for 2.7 million euros and the hotel for 13.8 million euros. With a workforce the city of millionaires is no problem — about 40 thousand people come here every day from neighbouring France and even the not so distant Italy.
Despite a fair amount of crowding, in Monaco enough opportunities for outdoor activities. There was a place for the stadium (local football team, by the way, is owned by Russian businessman Dmitry Rybolovlev), Golf course, several small parks. And local Cycling enthusiasts (pictured), seems to draw inspiration in the design of racing cars “Formula 1”, a stage which also takes place here.
