Most expensive homes in Spain found in Barcelona and Mallorca

Engel & Völkers, A.G., which specialises in the sale and purchase of luxury homes, reveals that Barcelona’s famous shopping street, the Passeig de Gràcia, is Europe’s 14th-most costly place to set up home, with property costing on average 14,000 euros per square metre, tying with Rue de Knokke in Brussels.

Spain’s second-most expensive area is the Formentor bay at the extreme north end of the island of Mallorca, at 12,000 euros per square metre, making it Europe’s 15th-most pricey area to buy.

The list is topped by L’Avenue d’Ostende, in Monte Carlo, where a home would set you back by 140,000 euros per square metre – a penthouse flat with views of the marina recently sold there for 240 million - followed by Romazzino bay in Sardinia (100,000 euros per square metre).

London’s Knightsbridge area is in third place – a typical three-bedroomed apartment in this part of Kensington could set you back by around 7.6 million euros.

France has most of the top 15 most expensive locations to buy – fourth and fith on the list are the Côte d’Azur towns of Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat (Chemin de Saint-Hospice) and Cannes (Chemin de Collines and Avenue du Paradis Terrestre), the latter very closely followed by the Champs-Élysées and Avenue Montaigne in Paris.

Surprisingly, the locations in Cannes and Paris are only half the price of properties in the Romazzino bay in Sardinia.

Christian Völkers, one of the directors of the German firm, believes homes at the top end of the market will continue to rocket in price as there is a ‘serious scarcity’ of these properties with demand far outstripping supply.