The 16th Annual Demographia International Housing Affordability Survey has been released and, once again, it ranks Australia as having one of the most expensive housing markets out of the countries surveyed even though affordability improved on the back of heavy price falls between 2017 and mid-2019.
This year’s report assesses 309 urban markets in eight countries: Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Ireland, New Zealand, Singapore, United Kingdom, and the United States as at the third quarter of 2019.
The survey employs the “Median Multiple” (median house price divided by gross annual median household income) to rate housing affordability. This measure is widely used for evaluating urban markets, and has been recommended by, amongst others, the World Bank and the United Nations, and is used by the Harvard University Joint Center on Housing.
