Although no Indian city figures anywhere in the top 10 or even top 20 list, New Delhi is there at 22nd place, ahead of Luxembourg, Copenhagen and Caracas. And just behind Madrid and Edinburgh! That's when you're looking at the sales price of the most expensive, two-bedroom apartments in the world.

To be more specific, it's Aurangzeb Road in New Delhi, which is doing India the honours. The survey lists the best street or neighbourhood in New Delhi as Aurangzeb Road. And the price? Hold your breath: The average price is $413,309 or Rs 1.8 crore for a two-bedroom apartment of 2,000 square feet. Ranked by sales price, New Delhi is 22nd in the list of most expensive cities in the world. Tokyo tops the list at $1,843,868 for a smaller apartment of 1,450 square foot size.

Going by the sales price, Tokyo (Japan) leads, followed by Hong Kong (China), New York City (US), London (UK), Sydney (Australia), Stockholm (Sweden), Singapore, Kobe (Japan), San Francisco (US) and Zurich (Switzerland). Interestingly, if you look at the top 25 on this list, there are just a few countries that appear twice or more. Among those few are Japan with Tokyo and Kobe as the most expensive cities; China with Hong Kong and Shanghai; US with New York, San Francisco and Dallas; Canada with Toronto and Quebec; and Spain with Barcelona and Madrid. The notable loners are England with London, Australia with Sydney, Sweden with Stockholm, Switzerland with Zurich, France with Paris, Germany with Frankfurt, Korea with Seoul, Ireland with Dublin, Scotland with Edinburgh, Denmark with Copenhagen and Venezuela with Caracas.

The International Report 2000 has also looked at price per square foot in two-bedroom apartments. Using that measure, the most expensive cities are Tokyo and Hong Kong at No. 1 and 2 spots, respectively, just like in the sales price list. But London is a surprise at No. 3; on the other list, New York City was third and London fourth. On the second list, New York City occupies fifth spot, down from third on the sales price list.

There are other surprises as well in this year's rankings, according to the sales price of two-bedroom apartments in various cities. For instance, London has dropped from being the most expensive city in the world in 1998 and 1999 to fourth spot this year. Also, Paris, from being third in 1998 and fourth in 1999, is down to 11th this year. New York and Hong Kong are going up the ladder from the fourth and fifth spot, respectively, in 1998, to third and second spot this year.

The sources for this survey have been varied. Arora & Associates, a leading real estate consultancy group, was the sole source for India. Sources in other countries include big names such as C B Richard Ellis, the Corcoran group, Hill & Company, McGrath Partners, Ken Corporation, Planners International, Chestnut Park and many others.