14th Annual Demographia International Housing Affordability Survey: 2018

PHOTO: Demographia International Housing Affordability

Rating Middle-Income Housing Affordability
Australia Australia  Canada  China (Hong Kong) China (Hong Kong)  Ireland Ireland
Japan  New Zealand  Singapore
United Kingdom  United States

Australia

Again, as in each of the previous 13 Demographia International Housing Affordability Surveys all of Australia’s five major housing markets are severely unaffordable

The overall major housing market Median Multiple is a severely unaffordable 6.6 and is less affordable than all major markets except for Hong Kong.

Major Markets: Sydney is again Australia’s least affordable market, with a Median Multiple of 12.9, and ranks second worst overall, trailing Hong Kong. Sydney’s housing affordability has worsened by the equivalent of 6.6 years in pre-tax median household income since 2001. This is a more than doubling of the Median Multiple. In contrast,

Sydney’s housing affordability worsen less than one-fourth as much between 1981 and 2001. At 12.9 Sydney’s Median Multiple is the poorest major housing affordability ever recorded by the Survey outside Hong Kong. Additionally, the UBS Global Real Estate Bubble Index rates

Sydney as having the world’s fourth worst housing bubble risk (tied with Vancouver).19 Melbourne has a Median Multiple of 9.9 and is the fifth least affordable major housing market internationally. Only Hong Kong, Sydney,

Vancouver, and San Jose are less affordable than Melbourne. Melbourne’s Median Multiple has deteriorated from 6.3 in 2001 and under 3.0 in the early 1980s. Just since 2001, median house prices have increased the equivalent of more than three years in pre-tax median household income.