Least affordable cities for homebuyers

Hong Kong was found to be the least affordable city for homebuyers out of dozens in eight countries in a recently released report.

The 2024 Demographia International Housing Affordability report calculated the ratios of the median house price to the gross median household income of 94 total cities in Australia, Canada, China, Ireland, New Zealand, Singapore, the U.K. and the U.S. to create its annual list.

This year, four of the countries had representation among the least affordable cities for homebuyers, with five of the 10 cities found to be “impossibly unaffordable” located in the U.S., the report said.

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These are the least affordable of the 94 markets, according to the Demographia International Housing Affordability report:

1. Hong Kong

Hong Kong skyline

A view of the Hong Kong skyline. (iStock / iStock)

2. Sydney

Sydney

View from the penthouse at One Barangaroo Crown residences in Sydney on April 17. (Brent Lewin/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Getty Images)

3. Vancouver, Canada

Vancouver

The skyline from English Bay in Vancouver, Canada, on April 22. (James MacDonald/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Getty Images)

4. San Jose, California

Houses in San Jose, California

Houses in San Jose, California, on Feb. 7. (Loren Elliott/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Getty Images)

5. Los Angeles

Los Angeles city

The skyline of Los Angeles. (iStock / iStock)

6. Honolulu

The entire coastline of Honolulu, Hawaii

The coastline of Honolulu, Hawaii’s capital city. (iStock / iStock)

7. Melbourne, Australia

Melbourne

A rower on the Maribyrnong River in Australia with the Melbourne skyline in the background on April 18, 2023. (William West/AFP via Getty Images / Getty Images)

8. San Francisco

San Francisco Golden Gate Bridge

The Golden Gate Bridge stands in front of the San Francisco skyline on March 28.  (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images / Getty Images)

9. Adelaide, Australia

Adelaide

The skyline of Adelaide, Australia. (Sina Schuldt/picture alliance via Getty Images / Getty Images)

10. San Diego

Aerial view of La Jolla village in San Diego with houses on the cliffs of the Pacific Ocean. (iStock / iStock)

The range of the median price-to-income multiples of the least affordable cities ranged from San Diego’s 9.5 to Hong Kong’s whopping 16.7, per the report.

HERE’S HOW MUCH YOU NEED TO EARN TO AFFORD A HOME TODAY

Housing affordability “is disappearing in high-income nations as housing costs now far outpace income growth,” it said. The report attributed that largely to “land use policies that artificially restrict housing supply, driving up land prices and making homeownership unattainable for many.”

The report included a total of 56 U.S. metro areas in its ranking, with 11 of those found to be “moderately unaffordable,” 23 to be “seriously unaffordable,” 17 to be “severely unaffordable” and five to be “impossibly unaffordable.”

Pittsburgh, which had a 3.1 median price-to-income ratio, was ranked the most affordable market, according to the report.

In the U.S., homes sold for a median $439,716 last month, according to Redfin data.

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