A “For Sale” sign sits outside an apartment building in Seattle, Washington, USA. (Photo: Reuters/VNA)
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The latest Global Demographics-Housing Affordability Report for 2024, released by the Center for Policy and Demographics at Chapman University in the US, reveals that housing prices in many parts of the world have become extremely expensive.
This annual report provides a ranking of housing affordability in the third quarter of 2023 across eight countries: Australia, Canada, China, Ireland, New Zealand, Singapore, the UK, and the US. It also offers a comprehensive analysis and updates on the housing affordability situation in these countries.
For the first time in 20 years, the researchers included a new category, “unaffordable,” or the term “median multiple,” in the report to describe the ratio of median income to median housing costs.
The report’s author, American urban policy analyst Wendell Cox, stated that the word “unaffordable” conveys the extreme difficulties that middle-income households are facing in purchasing homes.
According to the report, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (China) has the lowest homeownership rate among all surveyed cities at 51%, while Singapore boasts the highest rate at 89%, partly due to the government’s commitment to social housing.
The most affordable countries and territories (yet still out of reach for middle-income households) include Hong Kong (China – 16.7 points), Sydney (Australia – 13.8), Vancouver (Canada – 12.3), San Jose (US – 11.9), Los Angeles (US – 10.9), and Melbourne (Australia – 9.8).
In the US, the city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, offers the most affordable housing with a median multiple of 3.1 (moderate level), followed by Rochester, New York, and St. Louis, Missouri, both at 3.4, and Cleveland, Ohio, at 3.5.
In Australia, three cities fall into the “unaffordable (housing)” category: Sydney, Melbourne, and Adelaide.
Meanwhile, Brisbane and Perth are categorized as extremely expensive.
None of the 94 cities included in this report are considered to have affordable housing prices.
The report attributes this to the rising housing costs faced by middle-income households, significantly contributing to the current cost-of-living crisis.
Historically, house prices have increased at a similar rate as income growth, making homeownership more attainable.
However, in many high-income countries, housing costs have now far outpaced income growth.
Policies restricting land use are the primary cause of the housing affordability crisis.
These policies limit the supply of housing, drive up land prices, and make homeownership unattainable for many.
Thanh Tú-Minh Tâm
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While the housing prices continue to rise in the inner city area with limited supply, the development of suburban housing, accompanied by synchronized transportation infrastructure, will solve the affordable housing issue.
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