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Gary Barnett walks slowly towards the windows that face the Central Park in New York City, with his arms spread wide as if he were embracing the panoramic view that can be seen from the 87th floor of his newly-constructed Midtown Manhattan.

Mr. Barnett smiles as a visitor gasps at the view from the window,” That’s what we want. We want the ‘Oh, wow,’” he adds.

The apartment that Mr. Barnett is showing his visitors around is a 6,250-square-foot, full-floor one in his skyscraper, One57, which includes a yet-to-arrive tub carved from a single piece of Italian marble in the master bedroom. The entire apartment costs $67 million, or in other words, almost $11,000 per square foot.

If that is too expensive, one may find a similar apartment within the same building a few floors down that carries a price tag of “only $55 million.” Mr. Barnett says before pausing, “I didn’t really say, only $55 million?” He laughs, “It’s all relative.”

From the viewpoint of overseas buyers, this apartment might as well be a bargain. Although the prices of some of the latest buildings, like One57 stretch all the way up to the stratosphere, Manhattan continues to be a more attractive location as compared to other cosmopolitan cities for the overseas buyers who are looking to purchase a luxury apartment in the New York City.

In 2012, an apartment in Monaco’s Tour Odéon sold for $8,850 per square foot, while another affluent buyer paid $8,779 per square foot for an apartment in the Opus Hong Kong, designed by Frank Gehry.

Meanwhile in West London, the price for the 86 apartments in One Hyde park averages to more than $9,500 per square foot, according to the British property consulting firm Knight Frank.

William A. Ackman, the hedge fund manager, has been reported to be a part of an investment group that is paying above $90 million, about $6,666 per square foot, for a 13,500-square-foot duplex on One57’s 75th and 76th floors. This duplex is known as the “Winter Garden” because it contains a 2,500-square-foot of space enclosed by glass, which can be used to accommodate either a garden or a swimming pool. One57, with its average price of over $6,000 per square foot, is cheaper than another similar building on the east side of Midtown, 432 Park Avenue, which carries a price tag of $6,894 per square foot, according to its latest offering plan.

The latest crop of highly-luxurious apartment towers – buildings so tall that they first had to be approved by the Federal Aviation Administration before any construction work could begin – are attracting Wall Street businessmen, company executives, and foreigners with equal force. The analysts have estimated the percentage of overseas buyers in the Manhattan property sector to have soared up to 30-40pc of the total sales.

Foreign buyers comprise about 50pc of the total number of buyers that are interested in the latest developments, such as One57. Two of the purchasers are business partners are Canadian businessman Lawrence S. Stroll and Silas F.K. Chou, a native of Hong Kong, who took the fashion label Michael Kors public last year. Buyers from China have purchased about 15pc of the apartments in the building, including a corporation that bought four apartments.

Although Manhattan has always attracted several rich globe-trotters who would happy to dish out $2-10 million for fashionable Upper East Side accommodation, increasing numbers of global billionaires turning to Manhattan for top-of-the-market luxury apartments, the latter’s prices have skyrocketed.

A low supply of luxury apartments for the rich and famous has resulted in an explosion in the property market. Manhattan lacks the suitable, empty space for such developments, which can easily require more than 10 years of planning and construction.

Continuing economic malaise across Europe and increasing political tensions in several areas of the world have resulted in foreign and American billionaires alike seeking safer havens to park their assets. Analysts say that New York seems to fit the description of a safe haven.

Jonathan J. Miller of the real estate appraisal firm Miller Samuel said: “We’re building the equivalent of bank safe deposit boxes in the sky that buyers can put all their valuables in and rarely visit.”

It was not too long ago when one could buy a trophy property for $30 million. At least, that was what people believed in 2000 when Stephen A. Schwarzman, co-founder of Blackstone Group, the private equity giant, bought a sprawling 34-room penthouse at 740 Park Avenue for $30m, the former residence of John D. Rockefeller Jr.

This being Manhattan, purchases such as the above both mirror and amplify the era of real estate excess. As in other major metropolitan cities, New York’s luxury market – which forms the top 10 per cent of the sales – peaked in early 2009 on average prices of $2,612 per square foot, according to Miller Samuel. The prices have rebounded to an average of $2,055 this year.

Despite a history of foreign buyers snapping luxury apartments in Manhattan, analysts say that today’s rich globe-trotters are looking for something else. Firstly, many of them want a safe place to keep their assets. They want an investment that is unlikely to lose its value over time, and in fact, may increase in value.

Designed by Rafael Viñoly, 432 Park Avenue will be the tallest residential building in the whole of Western Hemisphere at its completion, soaring nearly 1,400 feet above Midtown. Sales began started this year and so far, about 50 per cent of the building is in contract. One-third of the buyers are foreigners, chiefly from Britain, South America, China, the Middle East and Russia.

At 56 Leonard Street in TriBeCa, the building is slowly rising and will eventually reach up to 60 stories. However, only about 10 per cent of its 145 apartments have been sold to foreign buyers, according to one of the building’s developers, Izak Senbahar.

“I think that the international people didn’t have the time,” to buy into the building, Mr. Senbahar said. Furthermore, he said that 92 per cent of the apartments were sold within seven months. But it was not due to lack of trying. “I remember one French person really buying on the phone because he thought it was going to be too late to get the unit he wanted,” Mr. Senbahar said.

Nicknamed the “Jenga building” for its jagged steel-and-glass design that resembles the wooden tower game, 56 Leonard has a penthouse on its 60th floor that was reportedly bought for $47 million, a record price for downtown, by a “New York-based hedge fund manager.”

For more than 10 years, Gary Barnett, who, as the head of Extell Development, built the W Hotel in Times Square, had carefully assembled his site on West 57th near Carnegie Hall. He bought several buildings and started acquiring the corresponding air rights, intending to build one of the city’s tallest luxury residential towers someday.

He shifted on his feet as he stood in the living room of a finished model apartment on the 41st floor of One57. This apartment costs $18.75 million, or less than $6,000 per square foot. (“As these things go, it’s a great price,” he says.)

Scheduled to open in December, One57 is now more than 70 per cent sold. Standing at 1,004 feet, One57 will be the highest residential tower in the city until 432 Park is completed.

Like most other high-end skyscrapers, One57 sells the lifestyle of the globe-trotting CEO or hedge fund manager. World-famous architect? Check — Christian de Portzamparc. High-end Miele appliances? Check. Private yoga studio and performance room? Check and check. Unfortunately, the world’s billionaires will have to swim laps in the building’s 75-foot indoor swimming pool with the tourists staying at the Park Hyatt hotel, which will occupy the first 30 floors of the building when it opens in mid-2014.

“There aren’t going to be many buildings like this that even can be built. Because how many spots can you find that will deliver this kind of view?” Mr. Barnett asked, as he nodded to the New York City views.

Well, actually, just down the street, on 57th and Broadway is where Mr. Barnett is already at work on his next project: a luxury tower that, if he sticks with the preliminary plans, could be the tallest building in the city, soaring more than 1,400 feet into the sky.