Best Cities To Live In If You Have A Lot Of Dough
If you’re feeling restless — and if you happen to have an extra half-million in your pocket this year — maybe you should consider moving to Hong Kong. The Chinese city of nearly 7.2 million people was ranked the city with the least affordable housing market in 2017 by the 13th annual Demographia International Housing Affordability Survey.
Hong Kong has been on the list for seven years, and its ranking is measured by something called the “median multiple” metric. To calculate the median multiple, the median house price is divided by the median household income.
In the introduction to the December 2016 study, Oliver Hartwich, executive director of the New Zealand Initiative, wrote that the aim of releasing data was actually to help drive down housing prices.
“We need to tackle housing affordability urgently because the effects of unaffordable housing on society are becoming more visible by the day,” he wrote. “Policies that raise housing costs are always likely to hit those on low incomes the hardest. Thus in our work on different measures of poverty and inequality, we have argued that the best way to tackle both issues would be to make housing more affordable.”
Here’s the full list of the 10 most unaffordable cities in which to live in 2017:
1. Hong Kong
Population: 7.2 million
Median multiple: 18.1
The Hong Kong skyline is seen from the Peak in China, June 18, 2013. Photo: Reuters
2. Sydney
Population: 4.92 million
Median multiple: 12.2
The Sydney Opera house is silhouetted as the sun rises in central Sydney, April 8, 2009. Photo: Reuters
3. Vancouver, Canada
Population: 630,000 (Population of Greater Vancouver: 2.5 million)
Median multiple: 11.8
The Science World building is reflected in the water of False Creek in Vancouver, British Columbia, April 19, 2008. Photo: Reuters
4. Auckland, New Zealand
Population: 1.5 million
Median multiple: 10
The Auckland City skyline is seen before a combined dragon boat training session with Emirates Team New Zealand and the Blues at Westhaven Marina, Jan. 26, 2012. Photo: Getty Images
5. San Jose, California
Population: 1 million
Median multiple: 9.6
People walk by an outdoor cafe in downtown San Jose, California, Aug. 29, 2007. Photo: Getty Images
6. Melbourne, Australia
Population: 4.5 million
Median multiple: 9.5
Rowers train at dawn on the Yarra River in Melbourne, Australia, Jan. 24, 2012. Photo: Reuters
7. Honolulu
Population: 337,000
Median multiple: 9.4
A woman jogs along a path in Ala Moana Park in Honolulu, Nov. 8, 2011. Photo: Reuters
8. Los Angeles
Population: 3.9 million
Median multiple: 9.3
The Los Angeles downtown skyline is pictured Aug. 22, 2011. Photo: Reuters
9. San Francisco
Population: 837,000
Median multiple: 9.2
Waves crash against a sea wall in San Francisco Bay beneath the Golden Gate Bridge, Dec. 16, 2014. Photo: Reuters
10. Bournemouth & Dorset, U.K.
Population: 183,491 in the city of Bournemouth
Median multiple: 9.1
A man in a beach hut reads a newspaper on the beachfront in Bournemouth, England, Feb. 4, 2013. Photo: Reuters
Related Articles
