Global Top 10 Affordable & Unaffordable Real Estate Markets

The 3rd Annual Demographia International Housing Affordability Survey 2007 rates the housing affordability in major urban markets across the globe. The survey included 159 major urban housing markets in 6 countries - Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, United Kingdom and the United States.

Demographia uses 'Median Multiple' to rate housing affordability which is calculated by dividing median house price by the median household income. A higher median multiple indicates poor housing affordability. The survey data of the 3rd quarter of 2006 categorizes housing affordability into four affordable (median multiple at 3.0 or less), moderately unaffordable (3.1 to 4), seriously unaffordable (4.1 to 5) and severely unaffordable (5.1 and above).

Of the 159 major urban markets surveyed, 42 are affordable markets (with 35 in the U.S. and 7 in Canada), 36 are moderately unaffordable markets (28 in the U.S., 6 in Canada, 2 in the U.K.), 22 are seriously unaffordable markets (17 in the U.S., 2 in Canada, 2 in the U.K.) and 59 are severely unaffordable markets (27 in the U.S., 19 in the U.K., 7 in Australia and 2 in Canada).

The top 10 affordable global housing markets are:

Rank 1 - United States - Fort Wayne, Indiana, with a median multiple of 2.0
Rank 1 - Canada - Regina (2.0)
Rank 1 - United States - Youngstown, Ohio, (2.0)
Rank 4 - United States - Buffalo, New York, (2.3)
Rank 4 - United States - Dayton, Ohio, (2.3)
Rank 4 - United States - Indianapolis, Indiana, (2.3)
Rank 4 - United States - Rochester, New York, (2.3)
Rank 8 - United States - Akron, Ohio, (2.4)
Rank 9 - United States - Grand Rapids, Michigan, (2.5)
Rank 9 - United States - Omaha, NE-IA, (2.5)
Rank 9 - Canada - Quebec, (2.5)
Rank 9 - United States - Toledo, Ohio, (2.5)
Rank 9 - United States - Wichita, Kansas, (2.5)
Rank 9 - Canada - Winnipeg, (2.5)
Rank 10 - United States Des Moines, Iowa (2.6)

The top 10 most unaffordable global housing markets are:

1.United States - Los Angeles-Orange County, CA, with a median multiple of 11.4
2.United States - San Diego, CA, (10.5)
3.United States - Honolulu, Hawaii, (10.3)
4.United States - San Francisco, CA, (10.1)
5.United States - Ventura County, CA, (9.4)
6.United States - Stockton, CA, (8.6)
7.Australia Sydney, (8.5)
8.United States - San Jose, CA, (8.4)
9.United Kingdom - London (GLA), (8.3)
10.United Kingdom - Bournemouth-Dorset, (8.2)

If you are considering buying or selling a home, condo, or any other type of real estate in any of these markets, be sure to seek out the services of a local real estate agent to advise you about local market conditions.