SYDNEY’S studio apartment market is booming, with our pint-sized pads fetching more than a similar apartment in some of the world’s most expensive cities.

Studio apartments, one-bedroom “suites” or one-bedroom “open plan” units in Sydney are fetching more per square metre than their counterparts in London, Paris, New York and Hong Kong.

Selling agent Nuri Shik of Laing and Simmons, Potts Point, said the boom was being driven by investors acting on low interest rates.

media_camera Potential buyer Daniela Rosa checks out the fold-down bed in a tiny Potts Point apartment. Picture: Justin Lloyd

He has just listed a 24sq m unit with a price tag of $445,000. The cosy flat on Challis Ave has not been renovated in decades, features a fold-down bed, a small balcony and a bathroom not much bigger than a phone booth — and yet it is likely to sell for more than $18,500 a square metre.

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Other global cities such as Paris, London, New York and Hong Kong have average prices per square metre sitting between $11,655 and $17,315.

“The buyers I’m selling to at the moment have been cash buyers, they’re mature people. Instead of having their money in the bank they’d rather have something and lease it out and get a better return,” Mr Shik said, adding the majority of his units sold within days of being listed.

media_camera This Paris studio apartment at 31sq m is on the market for $362,524 or $11,694 a square metre.

media_camera This London studio apartment at 27sq m is on the market for $398,390 or $14,755 per square metre.

Despite studio apartments being an ideal stepping stone for first-time buyers to get onto the property ladder, they are largely off limits to young buyers because of heavy lending restrictions.

For units under 50sq m, the big banks do not generally finance first-home buyers without a 20 per cent deposit.

“In the past few months I have sold a few small apartments to young females, but their parents helped them out with deposits or as guarantor,” Mr Shik said.

With little competition from owner occupiers, investors are snapping up these run-down studios and renovating on a budget.

media_camera This 28sq m studio apartment in New York is for sale for $381,930 or $13,640 per square metre.

Architect Daniela Rosa of Atelier Sub-Rosa has several clients who are looking to cash in on Sydney’s studios.

“Due to their the size it’s not something that would cost the earth,” she said.

Ms Rosa said apartments like the one on Challis Ave just needed a cosmetic makeover to start making a decent return.

“It’s got exciting potential, it really does,” she said.