Hong Kong has once again ranked as the most unaffordable city in the world for home ownership
For over 20 years, this report has assessed housing affordability by comparing median house prices to median household incomes, naming this median price-to-income ratio the 'median multiple'. This presents a more accurate view than just looking at housing prices, and also better represents middle- and lower-income households. Based on the median multiple, housing markets are then ranked from 'affordable' to 'impossibly unaffordable' – and to no Hongkonger's surprise, we're high up there in the latter category. Median multiples of nine and above fall into the 'impossibly unaffordable' grouping, and Hong Kong has a score of 14.4.
In fact, Hong Kong has been the least affordable market in the Demographia report for the past 14 years. However, the statistics show that this is already an improvement from our median multiple of 16.7 in 2023 and 20.8 pre-pandemic in 2019. Limited land supply and land use are among the biggest culprits of housing unaffordability worldwide, but Demographia does add that there are two projects that could contribute greatly to Hong Kong's housing stock. The Northern Metropolis project could add more than 900,000 new housing units near the Shenzhen border, while Lantau Vision Tomorrow could provide more than 200,000 units on reclaimed islands.
Troublingly, the housing market is worsening globally. The 'impossibly unaffordable' category was added last year to better reflect modern circumstances, when 'affordable' was the predominant standard only three decades ago. This year, there are 12 impossibly unaffordable markets and, for the first time ever, no markets ranked affordable at all.
On the far end of the scale, Pittsburgh in the United States was the most affordable market for the fifth year in a row, with a median multiple of 3.2, which classifies it under 'moderately unaffordable'. See the list of top 10 most unaffordable markets below, and visit Demographia for the full list and report.
Top 10 most unaffordable housing markets in the world
Hong Kong (Median multiple 14.4)
Sydney, Australia (13.8)
San Jose, USA (12.1)
Vancouver, Canada (11.8)
Los Angeles, USA (11.2)
Adelaide, Australia (10.9)
Honolulu, USA (10.8)
San Francisco, USA (10)
Melbourne, Australia (9.7)
San Diego, USA (9.5)
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Time Out
17-07-2025
- Time Out
These New York towns among most affordable housing markets in the U.S., says study
We love you, New York City—but between the sky-high rents and $20 sandwiches, it's no secret that the cost of living here can feel, well, severely unaffordable. That's the actual term used by the 2025 Demographia International Housing Affordability report, which just ranked metro New York as one of the priciest housing markets in the U.S. But here's the plot twist: A few other New York towns made the opposite end of the list. Further upstate, Rochester and Buffalo both landed in the top 15 most affordable housing markets in the country, with Rochester coming in at No. 4 and Buffalo tied for No. 12. The study uses something called the 'median multiple'—basically, the ratio of home prices to local incomes—to measure how affordable a place really is. Rochester scored a 3.6 and Buffalo a 4.0, making them moderately unaffordable but still light years ahead of New York City's jaw-dropping 7.4 rating. Translation: If you want to buy a house without selling your soul (or your sneaker collection), upstate might be the move. Other cities topping the affordability list include Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Cleveland, Ohio; and St. Louis, Missouri, while the usual suspects—San Jose and Los Angeles in California and Honolulu in Hawaii—rounded out the bottom. New York City wasn't quite the worst, but the Big Apple certainly wasn't far off. The report also notes a growing trend: People are ditching big-ticket cities in favor of smaller, more affordable ones where their paychecks go further, all while giving you the conveniences of modern urbanism. So if you've ever dreamed of swapping your fifth-floor walk-up for a driveway and a backyard? You've got options—and they're still in New York.
Time Out
15-07-2025
- Time Out
The London housing market is now ‘impossibly unaffordable', according to a thinktank
In case you didn't know, buying a house in London these days costs the world. Unless you've got wealthy parents to give you a leg up, or fancy saving up for the next 40 years, cobbling together the money for a deposit feels to most Londoners like an impossible task. Now a new study has confirmed just how bad things have got for the capital's housing market. According to a report by the Demographia International Housing Affordability (DIHA) – try not to get your tongue tied saying that one – housing in London is now 'impossibly unaffordable'. At this point, why even bother? I'd rather spend my money on flat whites and avocado toast. The study was conducted by the centre for Demographics and Policy at Chapman University in LA and a Canadian think tank called the Frontier Centre for Public Policy (FCPP). Now in its 21st year, the DIHA used the median house price-to-income ratio to work out which locations around the world were the most and the least affordable for buying houses, which essentially means they worked out how many times you would have to multiply the median salary to afford the median house price. By no surprise, London did not perform well in the analysis, and the capital was given the worst rating of being 'impossibly unaffordable' with a 'median multiple' of 9.0 and over, meaning that homes in the city cost up to nine times the median salary. London was the only UK region to receive this ranking. The report noted that house prices relative to household incomes have up to tripled in London. Per the report, London is one of the least affordable markets in the world, joining the likes of Hong Kong, Sydney, San Jose, Vancouver and Los Angeles. As for the rest of the UK, buying in London was revealed as 2.5 times more expensive than Britain's most affordable market (which was still rated as 'moderately unaffordable'), Middlesbrough and Durham. You can read more about that here. Before you crash out over this frankly horrible news, don't forget that living in London is actually pretty great, even if it means we can never afford houses. At least we have a conveyor belt cheese restaurant, eh?
Time Out
15-07-2025
- Time Out
Surprise ranking: Singapore places 17th in Global Housing Affordability Index
When you think of 'affordable housing', Singapore might not be the first place that springs to mind. But according to the latest Demographia International Housing Affordability report, we've landed in 17th place worldwide for housing affordability. Surprised? So were we. The US-based Demographia International Housing Affordability report has just released its 2025 edition, ranking Singapore 17th among the most affordable housing markets globally. The study compares cities across countries such as the UK, Hong Kong, the US, Australia and Canada, using a metric known as the median multiple – a price-to-income ratio that divides the median house price by the median household income. Singapore's median multiple for resale HDB flats stood at 4.2, placing it in the 'seriously unaffordable' category but in the context of global real estate, it's not too shabby. Singapore still boasts one of the world's highest home ownership rates at around 90%, with roughly 78% of households living in HDB flats. The report credits this to Singapore's long-standing public housing policies, which include generous subsidies for first-time buyers and a supportive framework for low-income housing through the HDB. The most affordable housing markets in the world 1. Pittsburgh 2. Cleveland 3. St. Louis 4. Rochester 5. Edmonton 5. Middlesbrough & Durham 5. Oklahoma City 5. Omaha 9. Sheffield 10. Cincinnati 10. Detroit 12. Buffalo 12. Minneapolis-St. Paul 15. Indianapolis 15. Tulsa 17. Singapore 17. Kansas City See the full list and read the full report here. The best Chinese restaurants in Singapore The No. 1 must-try dessert in Singapore is… pandan cake? According to TikTok, that is
