These Are The World’s Most Unaffordable Housing Markets

Buying a home is becoming increasingly out of reach in many of the world’s top cities. Property prices have greatly outpaced incomes over the past few decades, pushing affordability to historic lows.

In this infographic, Visual Capitalist’s Marcus Lu ranks the world’s most unaffordable housing markets using the house price-to-income ratio.

Data & Discussion

The data for this visualization comes from the 2025 edition of the Demographia International Housing Affordability Report. It compares 94 major housing markets worldwide, highlighting where residents face the steepest barriers to homeownership.

Hong Kong is Still the Least Affordable

Hong Kong tops the global list with a staggering house price-to-income ratio of 14.4. This means the typical home costs more than 14 years worth of household income.

Limited land supply and strong demand from global capital continue to keep prices out of reach for most residents. Despite government efforts to boost supply, affordability has worsened in the past decade.

For more context, check out this Wikipedia page which keeps track of the most expensive homes sold in Hong Kong.

North America’s Expensive West Coast

Vancouver, San Jose, Los Angeles, Honolulu, San Francisco, and San Diego all rank in the top 10 most unaffordable housing markets.

These cities combine strong demand, geographic constraints, and limited new supply, driving home prices to levels more than 9–12 times annual incomes. For example, in Los Angeles, the ratio stands at 11.2, making homeownership nearly impossible for middle-class families.

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