Four cities in the U.S. made the list of the world’s least affordable housing markets. No surprise, three are in California.
Among the top 10, San Jose ranked No. 5, Los Angeles No. 6, San Francisco No. 8. and Honolulu No. 9 on a list compiled and released this week by urban planning consulting firm Demographia.
For the ninth consecutive year, Hong Kong claimed the top spot as the least affordable city in the world. The median property price in that city climbed to 20.9 times the median household income in 2018, according to the study, up from 19.4 in 2017.
By comparison, the median property price was 9.4 times the median household income in San Jose, 9.2 times in Los Angeles and 8.8 times in San Francisco.
Demographia’s study analyzed 309 metropolitan areas in eight countries, concluding that 29 were “severely unaffordable.” The U.S. claimed 13 of those severely unaffordable markets – more than any other country.
But, the U.S. is also home to all of the nine major affordable markets on Demographia’s list.
Among the most affordable major housing markets in the world, Pittsburgh and Rochester, New York, were tied for No. 1, followed by Oklahoma City; Buffalo, New York; Cincinnati; Cleveland; St. Louis; Indianapolis and Detroit.
Here are the least affordable housing markets in the world:
(Cities are listed by median home price as a multiple of median income.)
Hong Kong……….20.9
Vancouver…….….12.6
Sydney……….……11.7
Melbourne………..9.7
San Jose…………9.4
Los Angeles………9.2
Auckland………….9
San Francisco……8.8
Honolulu………….8.6
London……………8.3
Toronto……………8.3
(Source: Bloomberg)
