Poole property prices in the deep end

Ask anyone to name the world's most expensive places to buy property and they would reel off a list of the obvious cities. But among the likes of London, New York and Tokyo is a location that few in the UAE will have heard of.Sandbanks, a small peninsula in Poole, Dorset, claims the fourth-highest land value by area, with average property prices at about £850 (Dh5,160) a square foot. One of the most expensive houses on the market at the moment is Harbour Watch, a six-bedroom waterfront property on a plot of less than a fifth of a hectare. The imposing white house is for sale for £7.4 million and comes complete with six reception rooms, a cinema, gym and a jetty. "Sandbanks has a reputation for being one of the most expensive places to live in the world and Harbour Watch is probably one of the best houses on Sandbanks," says Keith Fensom, of Savills, a property agency. "There aren't many as big as this. It's about 11,000 sq ft and it was only built about seven or eight years ago."The home has ample space for toys you would expect the super rich to own. One feature: a berth with hydraulic gates so the homeowner can park the boat. "You can park two boats in there," says Mr Fensom. "It also has an underground car park that can accommodate seven or eight cars."When Harbour Watch came on to the market in 2006 the asking price was substantially higher at £11m, proof that even Sandbanks suffered during the global downturn. However, in September 2008, a Russian multimillionaire paid £5m for a house just to knock it down and then spend another £5m to build something else. And just a year later a 14,990 sq ft plot of land was put on the market for £13.5m - almost £10,000 per sq metre. From / The National