NYC now world's most expensive city to live in: Real estate agency

Photo taken on July 11, 2016 shows the Manhattanhenge in Manhattan, New York, the United States. [Photo/Xinhua]

NEW YORK - New York has knocked London from its perch as the world's most expensive city to live and work in after the Brexit vote, which was ensued by the dramatic drop in the sterling against the US dollar.

That's according to a recent research made by the property broker Savills, which examines the costs of an employee to live in rented housing and work in office for a year.

Accommodation costs for one New York employee over a year rose 2 percent from December 2015, up to $114,010. The cost in Hong Kong was up 1 percent to $100,984.

London has held the top spot for two and a half years but falls to the third position as costs living in the British capital dropped 11 percent to $100,141. The research attributes the fall to the plunge in the sterling following the country's vote to leave the European Union.

"Brexit has made London more competitive, at least in the terms of cost," said Yolande Barnes, head of Savills. "Of course, other factors might mean it won't be."

Tokyo climbed to the fourth on the list, with accommodation costs rising 22 percent to $85,334, the report said.

"This is important for Tokyo," Barnes said, noting property values in Tokyo are heavily effected by income provided by rents.

Paris, San Francisco, Singapore, Dubai, Sydney and Los Angeles trail behind Tokyo as other most expensive cities in the world.