While the USA is renowned for over the top and super ex-
pensive real estate from $100M dollar beachside Hampton
estates to southern state plantations, California superstar
properties and New York City luxury apartments, we now take
a back seat to Monaco where they are currently building the
most expensive apartment in the world.
Sitting atop the Odeon Tower at 558 feet, the $400 million
dollar apartment will be penthouse level in the second tallest
building on the entire Mediterranean coast of Europe. Be-
sides the birds-eye view of the coastline, the Tower residents
will be treated like royalty with a palatial private lobby, their
own on-site luxury supermarket, business center, and movie
theatre.
Of course your every need is handled by the complementary
full staff with your very own 24/7 concierge and private chauf-
feur. The unit itself is 5 stories high, appointed with the high-
est in luxury features boasts amazing views of the blue sea,
an enormous private infinity pool with water-slide descending
down the side of the building, and 5 kitchens (one for each
floor!), a veritable millionaire’s playground.
Jana Partners founder Barry Rosenstein recently purchased
an East Hampton estate for $147 million, setting a new record
for the most expensive home ever purchased in the United
States. Compared to other homes owned by FORBES billion-
aires around the world, that price tag was a relative bargain.
Case in point: Recently, a penthouse at the prestigious One
Hyde Park in London’s Knightsbridge neighborhood had sold
for $237 million, setting a new world record for the priciest
apartment sale ever. Although the buyer remains unknown,
the purchaser is an Eastern European, reports Reuters.
Given the cash involved, the new owner is also very likely a
FORBES billionaire. (In 2011, Ukraine’s richest man, billion-
aire Rinat Ahkmetov, paid $221 million for a penthouse in the
same development. At the time, that was the most expensive
apartment sale ever.)
Throughout the global economic crisis and recovery, the su-
per-wealthy have been putting their money into the compar-
ative safe haven of real estate around the world. As demand
for real estate pushes property values up the world over, the
price tags of homes already owned by the super rich also
increase.
The island city of Singapore has been named the world’s most
expensive city to live in, according to the latest data from a
comprehensive study, while London did not even make the
top 10.
The results from the Economist Intelligence Unit’s 2014
Worldwide Cost of Living survey, placed Singapore ahead of
130 other cities based on more than 400 different price indi-