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25-Jan-2011
Yesterday Demographia, an market research company specialising in the financial impact of development on people, particularly in the American market, released their 7th annual International Housing Affordability Survey.
The survey looked at housing cost versus income in Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, China, Ireland, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States. It has been called the "gold standard" for assessing housing affordability of the urban markets it covers.
The survey is based on the principle that the cost of housing should not exceed three times the gross median annual household income.
"If this "affordability threshhold" is breached", Demographia suggests, "it indicates local political impediments to the provision of affordable housing that need to be dealt with".
Of the countries surveyed, New Zealand was second only to Australia in terms of the least affordable housing, with housing prices 5.3 times household incomes.
See here for more on the authors of the survey and their conclusions. |
