The housing market in many countries, such as the United States, has become increasingly difficult for potential home buyers over the last two decades. A new report has labeled some major cities as “impossibly unaffordable,” with US cities on the West Coast and Hawaii occupying five of the top 10 spots. The most expensive US cities to buy a home are in California, with San Jose, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and San Diego all making the list. Honolulu, Hawaii also ranks sixth among 94 major markets surveyed in eight countries. Australia also dominates the list, with Sydney, Melbourne, and Adelaide being labeled as “impossibly unaffordable.”
Hong Kong has been named as the least affordable city worldwide, with the lowest home ownership rate of all the cities surveyed. Despite its high prices, there has been a slight decline in house prices during the pandemic in 2020. The report attributes the soaring house prices to land use policies, such as “urban containment,” which aims to curb urban sprawl. The report suggests that the middle class is under siege due to escalating land costs and excess demand over supply driving prices up. Investors jumping into the market to make a profit has further driven up prices.
The report highlights the need for cities to follow New Zealand’s lead in freeing up more land for immediate development to address the affordability crisis. Vancouver and Toronto are among the cities labeled as “impossibly unaffordable,” with prices inflated due to policies limiting expansion. The report also identifies the most affordable cities among the surveyed, including Pittsburgh, Rochester, and St. Louis in the US; Edmonton and Calgary in Canada; Blackpool, Lancashire and Glasgow in the UK; and Perth and Brisbane in Australia. The report was compiled by researchers from the Center for Demographics and Policy at Chapman University in California and the Frontier Centre for Public Policy in Canada.
