The annual housing affordability study from Demographia is here and Australia has been deemed the most expensive country to buy a home in the English-speaking world with not one but 5 capital cities making the list.
Sydney was named the second most unaffordable city in the world to buy a home, right behind Hong Kong with the report calling it “impossibly unaffordable” so anyone hoping to buy a home in the Harbour City should start working on a backup plan.
This is the 15th time in 16 years Sydney has placed among the top 3 cities on the list. Meanwhile, Melbourne and Adelaide also claimed the title of least affordable cities in the world ranking 7th and 9th respectively. While five US cities were named in the top 10 least affordable cities, the top four most affordable cities in the world were also in the US.
The Demographia International Housing Affordability Report analyses the ability of middle-income buyers to own homes across 94 major housing markets in eight English-speaking nations: Australia, Canada, China, Ireland, New Zealand, Singapore, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
According to the report, Sydney’s median house price is 15 times more than the average household income. Melbourne was also classified as “impossibly unaffordable” with a median multiple of 9.8, jumping two spots from last year and Adelaide followed closely at number 9 with a median multiple of 9.7. While Perth did make the list at number 16, the report stated that it is at least 50 percent more affordable than Sydney.
