Reports in various newspapers show that the famous London store Harrods, may have been sold for £1.5 billion.
Harrods was purchased in 1985 for £615 million.
From a pure investment point of view, that is not a great return.
In 1985 that £615 million could have purchased a lot of residential property, and sold now for a much higher return.
Some examples of this are:
Australian property
1985 median price followed by 2010 median price, for each State
$88,350 Sydney $542,000 an increase of 513.5%
$75,200 Melbourne $478,000 an increase of 535.6%
$61,550 Brisbane $448,000 an increase of 627.9%
$72,200 Adelaide $391,000 an increase of 441.6% (lowest)
$52,050 Perth $504,000 an increase of 868.3% (highest)
$55,500 Hobart $338,000 an increase of 509.0%
$87,500 Darwin $534,000 an increase of 510.3%
$90,625 Canberra $554,000 an increase of 511.3%
Compared to the Harrods figures:
1985 cost price, then the 2010 sale price.
£615,000,000 Harrods £1,500,000,000 an increase of 143.9%
96.1 - 868,449