25 Most Unaffordable Housing Markets

Important Note: This list uses a median income multiplier to determine relative affordability. Please read accompanying article below for explanation.

Source: Demographia International Housing Affordability Survey

How Markets Were Ranked

The 3rd annual Demographia International Housing Affordability Survey employed what is known as the 'Median House Price to Median Household Income Multiple' to rank 159 major markets in the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, Ireland and New Zealand.

The housing affordability rankings are as follows:

Every market out of the top 25 markets shown above was deemed 'severely unaffordable'. Of the 25, 14 of them are located right here in the U.S.--10 of them are in California.

Only 42 of the 159 markets surveyed were considered affordable based on median home prices and median incomes. Seven of the markets were in Canada, and 35 of them were in the United States. Regina, Fort Wayne, and Youngstown were deemed the most affordable.

The Housing Affordability Crisis

According to the survey, the problems with housing affordability originated within the past ten years. Prior to the 1990's median multiples above 4.0 (in the 'seriously unaffordable' range) were extremely rare.

What does this prove?

Basically, what we already know. There is a dangerous disconnect between home prices and median incomes. When the artificial bubble pops, prices will drop, and then the real crisis will begin:

See more on median incomes versus median home prices