According to Knight Frank company research, luxury house prices in Paris rose by 22.2 percent in the year to march 2011. Prime property in Paris recorded the strongest price growth of all the cities monitored within the Knight Frank Prime Global Cities Index. This increase is driven primarily by supply constraints and growing interest from overseas buyers. As mentioned in research, overall, the cities recorded an average annual price growth of 6.6% compared to 12.7% a year earlier. A year ago there was a clear continental divide when it came to the performance of the world's prime property markets. Asian cities occupied the top rankings for price inflation while Europe and the US trailed far behind. A year on and the global picture is less clear cut. According to research, the second place is Hong Kong by 15 percent and the third is Helsinki by 12.2 percent. First five places are concluded Shanghai and Beijing respectively by 11 and by 10 percent increase. In London and in Singapore luxury house prices increased by 8.6 percent. Moscow's prime residential market recorded the weakest performance, with prices declining by 8 percent. However, the rate of decline is slowing, with 0.7 percent recorded in the last quarter.

As reported by Arabian business, Prime office rents in the Middle East have fallen off a list of the world's top ten most expensive locations, according to real estate consultancy Knight Frank. Commercial rents in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, which were ranked the world's sixth and seventh priciest in 2010, have failed to make the top ten this year amid oversupply and falling rates. "The high levels of development activity in recent years have left many of these locations with an oversupply of office space, forcing landlords to reduce rents further to attract tenants. Prime office rents fell by 10-20 percent during 2010 in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, and are likely to fall further in 2011.," analysts said. A five-year property boom in Dubai collapsed at the end of 2008 amid the global financial crisis, halving real estate prices. In neighboring Abu Dhabi, property prices fell around 45 percent. In Dubai's tax-free business hub, DIFC, rents have fallen 50 percent from their 2008-peak while approximately 200,000 square meter of office space is expected to be delivered by third party developers over the next 18 to 24 months, said Knight Frank. London's West End takes the top spot for the most expensive office rents in the world, up from second in 2010. Tokyo, Japan has dropped one spot this year, followed by Hong Kong and Moscow, said Knight Frank.

As reported by Regnum news agency, according to A-Realty Group real estate agency, the cost per square meter in the center of Moscow is reaching half a million rubles ($18,000). The average price per square meter in the center has reached 412 thousand rubles ($14,800) in April and an average cost of luxury apartments has already run up to 56 million rubles ($2,000,000). In total, there are 2.6 thousand flats offered for sale in the center of Moscow today. Average price per square meter for economy-class apartments is 197 thousand rubles ($7,000) in the center of Moscow, for business-class apartments - 258 thousand rubles ($9,250), and for luxury apartments is 475 thousand rubles ($17,000). The price for studios (with an average area of 34.4 square meters) in city center is 7.7 million rubles ($280.000) and one-bedroom apartments are sold for 13.4 million rubles ($480,000), while an average area of these flats is 54 square meters. Two-bedroom apartments in Moscow cost 18.8 million rubles ($670,000), and an average area of these apartments is 76 square meters. Overview of real estate market in the categories of the cheapest and the most expensive apartments shows that the cheapest apartment is sold for 5.4 million rubles ($193,500), and the most expensive one for 923 million rubles ($33,000,000). Apartments in luxury new developments are offered by 714 thousand rubles ($25,550) per square meter. The most expensive luxury apartment is proposed for 1 million 112 thousand rubles ($39,800) per square meter.

US and Britain property developers leave the "Vanity Fair". The world's leading developers are sacrificing height and glitz for better returns. "The age of bling is over," said Ken Shuttleworth, famous British architect (from Norman Foster). "Money now drives everything, so if you can build something for half the price, you will," he said. Construction of several skyscrapers in the City, will be completed, but they may be the last. Commercial Estates Group Ltd. and Hammerson Plc last month said that they will review a plan to build a 63-story building. Instead of it appears quite compact, 32-storey building. "A tall building was proving very expensive, so we went back to the drawing board", said Martin Jepson, Hammerson's managing director for London. Developers in New-York also change their plans. One World Trade Center, which will be the western hemisphere's tallest tower when it opens in 2013, is one of several skyscrapers that may be built by the end of the decade in New-York. Decrease of tendency explains with high costs of skyscrapers. In London, high-rise buildings cost 50 pounds to 150 pounds more per square foot than shorter ones. That means the money needed to construct a skyscraper with 500,000 square feet (46,000 square meters) of space can be 150 million pounds, twice as much as a lower-rise structure with the same space. Such difference is explained by the fact that high-rise construction requires special engineering solutions, including the development of a powerful frame, and often unusual architectural techniques. Tall buildings are also less attractive to investors than shorter ones because tenants can't start moving in until the construction work is over. So it takes a very long time to get the first money from your investment. But large-scale architectural projects are not everywhere losing out. Skyscrapers boom reaches end, but only in certain parts of the world. Now they support the most functional and "green " projects. However, in Asia, which shows a steady increase in GDP, in the next 20 years will be dominated by the idea that the building should be high and attractive. So, the architects will continue to design skyscrapers, but now in China, India or Arab states.

On April British Chesterton consulting considered the world's property markets and has estimated how many years need a family to buy a luxury apartment. The first was Hong Kong. Here on the luxury housing an ordinary family has to save 205 years. The average cost of real estate is $ 3.6 million and an average annual household income is $ 17.5 thousand. In ranking the second place was Moscow, where to buy luxury housing family will have to make money for 113 years. "Chesterton" Analysts also estimated, that the average annual income of family in Moscow is $ 35.2 thousand, while the average price of luxury apartments - $ 3.9 million. It is more difficult to purchase luxury housing in London and in New York. Here the figures are 65 and 55 years respectively. In Kiev, with an average annual household income of $ 23 thousand and the price of luxury apartments in the $ 900 thousand, the rate of availability is 39 years. In Paris and Geneva for the purchase of luxury housing families have to spend 32 years. One of the lowest indicators (11 years) is observed in the United Arab Emirates in the Abu Dhabi. In addition to a high standard of living (annual income is about $ 144 thousand), experts attribute this to the fact that here house construction sector is very advanced. If we bring such rough calculation for Yerevan, we'll have following results; with the average annual income of a $7.0-$8.0 and an average cost of a luxury apartment of $250-300 thousands, an average income family living in Yerevan will have to pay for it about 35-40 years. However, as we see, Chesterton's calculations didn't assume other expenses, such as food, education, utilities, healthcare and so on, and surely, including all these costs will postpone apartment buying, and for an average Yerevan family the outlook for getting luxury apartment is almost unreachable.