Zurich and Geneva top list of Europe's most expensive cities to buy an apartment
A Deutsche Bank report finds Swiss cities are the most expensive places in Europe to buy an apartment, while Istanbul and Athens rank as the cheapest among 28 surveyed cities.
Deutsche Bank Research Institute's "Mapping the World's Prices 2026" report compares apartment prices per square metre in city centres across 69 cities worldwide, 28 of them in Europe, highlighting sharp differences in housing affordability across the continent.
Switzerland leads the rankings
Two Swiss cities top the European list. In Zurich, a square metre costs about €22,910, while in Geneva it costs €19,439. That means an 80-square-metre apartment would cost around €1.83 million in Zurich and €1.56 million in Geneva. London ranks third at €17,241 per square metre, roughly 35% more expensive than Paris, where the price is €12,771. Vienna rounds out the top five at €12,483 per square metre.
Germany, the Nordics and beyond
Munich is Germany's most expensive city at €11,435 per square metre. The top ten also includes Luxembourg (€11,011), Copenhagen (€10,191), Stockholm (€10,037) and Oslo (€9,785). Helsinki ranks 13th at €8,431 per square metre, just below Milan (€9,378) and Amsterdam (€9,273).
Prague, at €8,352 per square metre, is more expensive than Madrid (€7,831) and Berlin (€7,613). Rome follows at €7,328, with Dublin at €7,185 and Frankfurt at €7,162, while Lisbon and Barcelona sit at €6,636 and €6,485 respectively.
The cheapest cities
Istanbul is the cheapest European city on the list at €2,646 per square metre, followed by Athens at €3,442. Other relatively affordable cities include Brussels (€4,380), Birmingham (€4,671), Budapest (€5,243), Warsaw (€5,443) and Edinburgh (€5,708).
The average price across the 28 European cities is €9,090 per square metre, meaning an 80-square-metre apartment would cost around €727,000 on average. Among all 69 cities worldwide covered by the report, Hong Kong is the most expensive at €23,790 per square metre, followed by Zurich and Seoul (€21,897), while Cairo (€784) and Johannesburg (€913) are the cheapest.
