Top 10 least affordable housing markets in the world [Infographic]

Wondering where in the world has the least affordable housing market?

Obviously, the cost of a home varies greatly depending on where you live.

And as Australia is one of the most desirable places in the world to live, it’s not surprising we’re amongst the most expensive

Here's a look at 10 of the most expensive housing markets worldwide, based on the latest data from Visual Capitalist.

The least affordable housing markets

For the 12th year in a row, Hong Kong is the world’s least affordable housing market.

On the other hand, Sydney, Australia moves up one spot from last year’s ranking to take second place.

Meanwhile, Melbourne places fifth.

The COVID-19 Impact

Middle-income earners were already feeling the squeeze prior to the global pandemic, but COVID-19 only exacerbated housing affordability issues.

As people began to work from home, high-income earners started to look for more spacious housing that wasn’t necessarily in the city centre, driving up demand in suburban areas that were relatively affordable prior to the pandemic.

At the same time, supply chain issues and material costs impacted construction, which created a perfect storm that ultimately drove housing prices up.

But with interest rates rising and COVID-19 restrictions easing around the world, some experts are predicting a market cool-down this year—at least in some parts of the world.

And the slowdown has obviously started in Australia's 2 most expensive markets, Sydney and Melbourne, but with immigration returning at a time of a significant undersupply of properties, it’s likely any fall in house prices will be short-lived

Source: - This research was originally published by Visual Capitalist.

About Robert Chandra Robert Chandra is a Property Strategist at Metropole and has an intrinsic understanding of property markets backed by many years of real estate experience. This coupled with several degrees gives him a holistic perspective with which he can diagnose clients’ circumstances and goals and formulate strategies to bridge the gap.