Ranked: These Are 10 of the World’s Least Affordable Housing Markets (2024)

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Ranked: These Are 10 of the World’s Least Affordable Housing Markets? ›

The Demographia International Housing Affordability report for 2023 was released on Monday, with Sydney ranking just ahead of the world's least affordable nation Hong Kong.

The Demographia International Housing Affordability report for 2023 was released on Monday, with Sydney ranking just ahead of the world's least affordable nation Hong Kong.

According to the 2023 International Housing Affordability Survey by Demographia, three out of the 10 least affordable housing markets are in Australia and New Zealand, two are in Canada and four more are located in the United States. The least affordable housing market is Hong Kong.

Hong Kong is the least affordable market, with a median multiple of 18.8. Sydney was the second least affordable at 13.3, Vancouver at 12.0, Honolulu at 11.8, San Jose at 11.5, Los Angeles 11.3, Auckland 10.7, Melbourne at 9.9, Toronto at 9.5 and San Diego at 9.4.

California has the largest concentration of severely unaffordable markets, with four of the nation's five highest-cost markets relative to incomes. Those cities are San Jose (with an affordability rating of 12.6), San Francisco (11.8), Los Angeles (10.7) and San Diego (10.1).

Australia is the only country in the study which had multiple cities that failed to rank any better than 'severely unaffordable'. Australia scored increasingly high in housing unaffordability rates, with Sydney ranking as the second most unaffordable of the 92 evaluated cities, with a median multiple of 15.3.

In its report, Niche also ranked the cheapest places to live in the U.S. At the top of the list this year is Brownsville, Texas. Brownsville has been steadily rising in Niche's Lowest Cost of Living ranking over the past few years, placing number six in 2021, number three in 2022 and finally, number one in 2023.

Hawaii and California are the LEAST affordable places to live in the U.S as incomes fail to keep up with soaring property prices.

That said, the cheapest states to buy real estate in are often those experiencing economic or population declines. Rust Belt states like Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan and Indiana all have markets with affordable housing, as do many Southern states, like Alabama and Mississippi.

Which city has the most unaffordable housing? ›

All the cities on this graphic are classified as severely unaffordable⁠—and, for the 12th year in a row, Hong Kong takes the top spot as the world's most unaffordable housing market, with a score of 23.2.

According to worldpopulationreview.com, Hawaii is the most expensive state to live in, with its housing costing three times the national average. New York and California rank as the second and third most expensive states in which to live, respectively.

Over the past few years, the COVID-19 pandemic, record-high inflation, significant job losses, and rising rent prices have shaped the affordable housing landscape.

Studies have shown that for the past 40 years, housing supply has not kept pace with demand, resulting in a housing shortage ranging between 2 million and 6 million homes.

More than 1.8 billion people around the world do not have adequate housing, an estimated 15 million people are forcibly evicted every year, and 150 million more are living in homelessness.

Jefferson County

#1 Counties with the Lowest Cost of Living in America.

Austria has the best housing system.

Housing cost in Vienna has remained around 25% of their income and they have largely avoided house price inflation.

Is housing unaffordable in America? ›

The cost of buying a home is drifting further out of financial reach for the average American, according to a report from Redfin. The real estate website analyzed homes that went on sale last year and found that only 21% of them were affordable, meaning that nearly 80% of homes were outside the typical buyer's budget.

1. Hawaii. Hawaii is known for its beautiful beaches, warm climate, and breathtaking scenery. However, it is also the most expensive state to buy a house, with a Zillow Home Value Index of $834,582.

Topping the 2023-24 list: Green Bay, Wisconsin. The magazine called Green Bay "The perfect mix of big-city amenities complemented with a Midwestern, small-town feel."

Atlanta, Georgia. Atlanta, Georgia is the best place to live in the U.S. in 2022 because of its booming jobs market and eye on equality.

Florida is one of the most expensive states for housing, and Miami is the least affordable city in the country, according to a report. High demand, short supply, increased migration trends since the pandemic and exploding mortgage rates, make for a pricey combination.

The three cheapest states to move to in terms of housing costs are: West Virginia, with an average price of $123,000; Mississippi, with an average price of $125,000; and Arkansas, with an average house price of 133,600. You can view the 10 cheapest states to move to below.

Where is the cheapest place to live out west? ›

The most overvalued markets to purchase a home tend to be in California, but also include Seattle, Washington, and “Zoom towns” such as Boise, Idaho, and Greeley, Colorado. The most overvalued markets to rent a home are mostly found in California and Florida.

Try living in Portugal

Definitely one of the cheapest and safest places to live in the world, Portugal is very popular among people leaving the US to move abroad. Transportation is very sophisticated and easy to use all over Portugal, and you can travel cheaply around the country by train or bus.

Augusta, a small city near Georgia's border with South Carolina, is one of the cheapest and safest places to live in the USA. It has a low crime rate and a low cost of living, making it perfect for those looking to live comfortably and save money. Augusta is just 2 hours from Atlanta, an exciting city.

Regarding affordability, the report indicates that Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New Jersey are the most affordable states with Arizona, Nevada, and Florida being the least affordable. The researchers came to this conclusion by using features such as credit score, mortgage debt, paid family leave, and median income.

According to several studies on cost of living, Hawaii is the most expensive U.S. state to live in. Prices are typically double in Hawaii compared to those on the mainland, and the continued rise in inflation is making costs ranging from housing to health care much more expensive.

Sixteen million homes currently sit vacant across the U.S. In every state across the country, many homes remain empty while hundreds of thousands of Americans face homelessness.

The imbalance between supply and demand; resulted from of strong economic growth creating hundreds of thousands of new jobs (which increases demand for housing) and the insufficient construction of new housing units to provide enough supply to meet the demand.

How many Americans live in affordable housing? ›

Over 10.9 million of the nation's 43.7 million renter households have extremely low incomes. Only 7.3 million rental homes are affordable to extremely low-income renters, assuming households should spend no more than 30% of their incomes on housing.

It's also worth noting that while foreclosure rates are up year-over-year, experts do not expect to see a wave of foreclosures in 2023, even where home values are depreciating, as many homeowners have substantial equity due to progressive home price appreciation in recent years.

As prices become unsustainable and interest rates rise, purchasers withdraw. Borrowers are discouraged from taking out loans when interest rates rise. On the other side, house construction will be affected as well; costs will rise, and the market supply of housing will shrink as a result.

Although home prices are expected to improve in the second half of the year, the California median home price is projected to decrease by 5.6 percent to $776,600 in 2023, down from the median price of $822,300 recorded in 2022.

Low-Income Households Are Particularly Affected by Unaffordable Housing. Households with the lowest incomes are by far the most likely to have housing costs that are unaffordable.

The United States subprime mortgage crisis was a multinational financial crisis that occurred between 2007 and 2010 that contributed to the 2007–2008 global financial crisis. The crisis led to a severe economic recession, with millions of people losing their jobs and many businesses going bankrupt.

According to data from Florida Atlantic University, Atlanta has the most overpriced housing market in the United States. The capital of the Peach State beats out multiple Florida cities, Charlotte, North Carolina, and Memphis, Tennessee to take the top spot for 2023.

According to the report, Bermuda is the world's most expensive place to live.

In 2020, Hong Kong had the most expensive residential property market worldwide, with an average property price of 1.25 million U.S. dollars. The government of Hong Kong provide public housing for lower-income residents and almost 45 percent of the Hong Kong population lived in public permanent housing in 2018.

Where is housing most expensive in the US? ›

1. Hawaii. Hawaii is known for its beautiful beaches, warm climate, and breathtaking scenery. However, it is also the most expensive state to buy a house, with a Zillow Home Value Index of $834,582.

The most expensive city in the U.S. in terms of housing costs is San Jose, California. It combined the highest monthly housing costs in our study with the second-highest home values, but San Francisco wasn't far behind.

1. Switzerland. Switzerland has one of the highest costs of living in the world. Rent is only $1,516.83 but worldwide income tax can run up to 40%.

Singapore and New York City tied for the first rank amongst the world's most expensive cities in 2022, pushing Israel's Tel Aviv from the first place in 2021 to the third place in 2022. Both these cities had high inflation and a strong currency. Surprisingly, this is the Big Apple's first time atop the ranking.

Cost of living and purchasing power related to average income. We adjusted the average cost of living inside the USA (based on 2022) to an index of 100. All other countries are related to this index. Therefore with an index of e.g. 80, the usual expenses in another country are 20% less then in the United States.