Housing remains a pressing concern throughout Europe. The difficulties extend beyond limited supply to include high costs, particularly in capitals, large urban centres and popular visitor spots.

Property values and rental rates differ markedly from one country to another. This raises questions about which nations and cities will prove most costly for home purchases in 2026, the expense per square metre and the total outlay required for a central apartment.

The Mapping the World's Prices 2026 study from Deutsche Bank Research Institute examines central apartment prices per square metre in 69 cities, including 28 across Europe.

Switzerland leads as the priciest nation for home purchases

Two Swiss locations top the rankings and establish Switzerland as the costliest country for central real estate. Zurich commands €22,910 per square metre while Geneva stands at €19,439.

An 80-square-metre apartment would therefore total roughly €1,833,000 in Zurich and €1,555,000 in Geneva.

London follows in third place at €17,241 (£14,782) per square metre, bringing the same apartment size to about €1,379,000 or £1,183,000.

London exceeds Paris by 35 percent

Paris ranks next yet remains notably less expensive than London. Its price per square metre reaches €12,771. Purchasing a central apartment in London therefore costs around 35 percent more than in Paris.

Vienna finishes the top five at €12,483 per square metre.

Only two of the leading five cities belong to Europe's largest economies: London in the UK and Paris in France.

Munich serves as Germany's most expensive city at €11,435 per square metre.

Luxembourg (€11,011), Copenhagen (€10,191), Stockholm (€10,037) and Oslo (€9,785) complete the top 10, with the Norwegian capital dipping below the €10,000 threshold.

Three Nordic cities appear in the top 10, while Helsinki sits at 13th with €8,431 per square metre.

Milan and Amsterdam stand just above Helsinki at €9,378 and €9,273 per square metre.

Prague surpasses Madrid and Berlin in price

Prague exceeds both the Spanish and German capitals. Its central apartment price per square metre is €8,352.

This figure compares with €7,831 in Madrid and €7,613 in Berlin. Rome follows at €7,328 per square metre.

Dublin (€7,185) and Frankfurt (€7,162) remain above the 7,000 level, while Lisbon (€6,636) and Barcelona (€6,485) stay above 6,000.

Lowest prices in Istanbul and Athens

Istanbul registers as the least expensive European city on the list at €2,646 per square metre, followed by Athens at €3,442.

Brussels also ranks among the lower-priced cities in third from the bottom, with a price of €4,380 per square metre.

Birmingham in the UK (€4,671) falls below the €5,000 mark, whereas Budapest (€5,243), Warsaw (€5,443) and Edinburgh (€5,708) exceed it.

The straightforward average across the 28 cities equals €9,090 per square metre.

Consequently, the cost of an 80-square-metre apartment surpasses €1 million in only four cities. Zurich approaches €2 million while Geneva exceeds €1.5 million.

The average price for an 80-square-metre apartment across the list reaches about €727,000.

Hong Kong tops the global list while Cairo ranks lowest

Among all 69 cities in the report, Hong Kong proves the most expensive at €23,790 per square metre, followed by Zurich (€22,910) and Seoul (€21,897).

The least costly cities are Cairo (€784) and Johannesburg (€913), both under the €1,000 level.

The report's figures draw on data from Numbeo and Deutsche Bank, converted to euros via the ECB average exchange rates for the first half of 2026.