City-level housing affordability
Country medians hide the cities. London is roughly 1.5× the UK median; Sydney is 1.7× the Australia median. If you live in or are moving to a major metro, the city ratio is the one that matters.
City vs country price-to-income
| City | City P/I | Country P/I | Premium |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🇭🇰Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR consistently the world's least affordable major market | 19.6× | 19.6× | 1.00× |
| 🇳🇱Amsterdam, Netherlands supply-constrained, no greenfield growth | 14.2× | 12.6× | 1.13× |
| 🇦🇺Sydney, Australia land-use restrictions + foreign demand | 13.8× | 7.9× | 1.75× |
| 🇵🇹Lisbon, Portugal tourism + golden visa premium | 13.7× | 7.8× | 1.76× |
| 🇯🇵Tokyo, Japan modest by local-historical standards (1990 was 18×) | 13.1× | 7.8× | 1.68× |
| 🇫🇷Paris, France city centre is far above the national line | 12.5× | 9.2× | 1.36× |
| 🇨🇦Vancouver, Canada consistently among the least affordable in N. America | 12.3× | 9.0× | 1.37× |
| 🇬🇧London, United Kingdom global financial centre premium | 12.0× | 7.8× | 1.54× |
| 🇺🇸Los Angeles, United States supply-constrained metro | 9.7× | 5.1× | 1.90× |
| 🇳🇿Auckland, New Zealand limited buildable land + immigration | 9.5× | 7.9× | 1.20× |
| 🇩🇪Berlin, Germany rapid 2014-2024 catch-up; rent caps debated | 9.5× | 6.5× | 1.46× |
| 🇺🇸San Francisco, United States tech wages + zoning | 9.0× | 5.1× | 1.76× |
| 🇨🇦Toronto, Canada bigger than national average | 9.0× | 9.0× | 1.00× |
| 🇪🇸Madrid, Spain post-2015 price recovery | 8.9× | 6.0× | 1.48× |
| 🇺🇸New York City, United States city-wide; Manhattan is well above this | 8.4× | 5.1× | 1.65× |
How to read the city premium
- City premium = city ratio ÷ country ratio. 1.0 = same as the country average; 2.0 = twice as expensive relative to local wages.
- Most major metros sit at 1.3-1.7× the national P/I. Outliers above 2.0× (Lisbon, Hong Kong, parts of London) are typically supply-constrained or subject to large outside-capital flows.
- The country median is still useful even if you live in a metro: it sets the local mortgage rate, the lender DTI culture, and the minimum down-payment regime.
Sources
- Demographia International Housing Affordability — annual report — city-level price-to-income medians.
- OECD Affordable Housing Database — country medians used for the comparison column.
- City-specific data cross-referenced with national real-estate registries (Land Registry UK, Notaires de France, Kadaster NL, Realkredit Danmark).