London has been pushed off its top spot by Monaco as the most expensive place to buy residential property, with the UK capital and surrounding counties suffering some of the biggest price falls in the world.

Monaco, where prime property is being sold for €50,000 ($68,000, £47,000) per sq m (up 2.1 per cent from the average in 2008), is now followed by London, at €28,000 per sq m, then Manhattan, at €16,500 per sq m (down 4.1 per cent).