Housing Affordability Is A Global Issue

Housing affordability has become a defining economic issue across much of the world, but the relationship between home prices and incomes differs more than many people realize.

Using data from the UN Habitat World Cities Report 2026, Visual Capitalist’s Dorothy Neufeld created this map comparing median home prices with annual household incomes across more than 180 countries, revealing where buying a home is relatively attainable—and where it remains far out of reach.

The World’s Most Affordable Housing Markets

Saudi Arabia and the UAE have the lowest home price-to-income ratios in the dataset at 3.0. The U.S. ranks seventh-lowest at 4.5, below Canada (9.4), Australia (7.5), and the UK (8.3).

The ratio shows how many years of median household income would be needed to match the median home price. A lower figure indicates greater affordability, though the measure does not account for mortgage rates or other homeownership costs.

Rank	Country	Home Price-to-Income Ratio
1	Saudi Arabia	3.0
2	UAE	3.0
3	South Africa	3.4
4	North Korea	3.5
5	Oman	3.6
6	Nauru	4.0
7	U.S.	4.5
8	Tuvalu	5.0
9	Namibia	5.2
10	Timor-Leste	5.2
11	Saint Pierre and Miquelon	5.2
12	Qatar	5.3
13	Bhutan	5.5
14	Belize	5.5
15	Solomon Islands	5.5
16	Palau	5.5
17	Tonga	5.5
18	State of Palestine	5.6
19	Laos	5.7
20	Dominica	5.7
21	Nicaragua	5.8
22	Vanuatu	5.8
23	Grenada	5.9
24	Fiji	6.0
25	Papua New Guinea	6.0
26	Samoa	6.0
27	Trinidad and Tobago	6.1
28	Mauritius	6.2
29	Réunion	6.2
30	Jamaica	6.2
31	Saint Lucia	6.2
32	Mayotte	6.5
33	Saint Helena	6.5
34	Belgium	6.5
35	Kiribati	6.5
36	Seychelles	6.6
37	Denmark	6.6
38	Paraguay	6.7
39	Micronesia	6.7
40	Cabo Verde	6.8
41	Cyprus	6.8
42	Iceland	7.0
43	Saint Kitts and Nevis	7.0
44	Marshall Islands	7.0
45	Libya	7.2
46	Eswatini	7.2
47	Maldives	7.2
48	Netherlands	7.2
49	Barbados	7.2
50	Ireland	7.3
51	Lesotho	7.4
52	Jordan	7.4
53	Australia	7.5
54	Comoros	7.6
55	Djibouti	7.8
56	Finland	7.8
57	Spain	7.8
58	Côte d’Ivoire	8.0
59	Senegal	8.0
60	Myanmar	8.0
61	Benin	8.1
62	Togo	8.1
63	Malaysia	8.1
64	Iraq	8.1
65	Latvia	8.1
66	Norway	8.1
67	Rwanda	8.2
68	Gabon	8.2
69	Sao Tome and Principe	8.2
70	Madagascar	8.3
71	Cameroon	8.3
72	Congo	8.3
73	Gambia	8.3
74	UK	8.3
75	Zambia	8.4
76	Mexico	8.4
77	San Marino	8.5
78	Western Sahara	8.6
79	Burkina Faso	8.6
80	Mauritania	8.6
81	Bahrain	8.6
82	Malawi	8.8
83	Mali	8.9
84	Bahamas	8.9
85	Honduras	8.9
86	Sierra Leone	9.0
87	New Zealand	9.0
88	Eritrea	9.1
89	Sudan	9.2
90	Guinea-Bissau	9.2
91	Liberia	9.2
92	India	9.2
93	Bulgaria	9.2
94	Canada	9.4
95	Burundi	9.5
96	Andorra	9.5
97	Liechtenstein	9.5
98	Costa Rica	9.5
99	Bermuda	9.5
100	South Sudan	9.6
101	Niger	9.6
102	Italy	9.7
103	Switzerland	9.7
104	Guinea	9.8
105	Sweden	9.9
106	Somalia	10.2
107	Equatorial Guinea	10.2
108	Panama	10.2
109	Japan	10.3
110	Austria	10.3
111	Chad	10.4
112	Bolivia	10.5
113	Democratic Republic of the Congo	10.6
114	Germany	10.7
115	Kazakhstan	10.9
116	Romania	10.9
117	Central African Republic	11.1
118	Ecuador	11.1
119	Angola	11.2
120	Bosnia and Herzegovina	11.4
121	Kuwait	11.5
122	Greece	11.5
123	Luxembourg	11.5
124	Estonia	11.8
125	France	11.8
126	Tunisia	11.9
127	Guatemala	11.9
128	Egypt	12.0
129	Moldova	12.1
130	Malta	12.1
131	Slovenia	12.1
132	Ukraine	12.2
133	Bangladesh	12.6
134	Türkiye	12.6
135	Portugal	12.6
136	Lithuania	12.7
137	Montenegro	13.1
138	Slovakia	13.2
139	Croatia	13.2
140	Georgia	13.3
141	Poland	13.3
142	North Macedonia	13.3
143	Uruguay	13.7
144	Belarus	13.8
145	Pakistan	13.9
146	Afghanistan	14.1
147	Israel	14.1
148	Morocco	14.2
149	Kyrgyzstan	14.3
150	Azerbaijan	14.5
151	Hungary	14.6
152	Czechia	14.9
153	Uzbekistan	15.3
154	Singapore	15.5
155	Chile	15.6
156	Albania	15.7
157	Dominican Republic	15.8
158	Serbia	15.9
159	Kenya	16.0
160	Algeria	16.0
161	Armenia	17.2
162	Colombia	17.5
163	Mongolia	17.6
164	Lebanon	18.3
165	Brazil	18.3
166	Indonesia	18.5
167	Venezuela	18.9
168	Peru	19.0
169	Argentina	22.7
170	Vietnam	23.5
171	Thailand	24.0
172	Monaco	25.0
173	Iran	25.1
174	South Korea	26.0
175	Nigeria	28.2
176	Philippines	30.1
177	Cambodia	32.5
178	Nepal	32.8
179	China	34.6
180	Sri Lanka	40.8
181	Syrian Arab Republic	86.7
–	World Average	11.2

In Gulf countries, relatively high incomes and government-backed housing initiatives help keep homeownership within reach for many citizens.

In the U.S., rising mortgage rates and constrained housing supply have weakened affordability in recent years. Even so, home values remain relatively low compared with household incomes on an international basis.

Around three billion people worldwide remain underserved by the housing market as home prices continue to outpace incomes in many countries.

Where Buying a Home Is Most Difficult

At the other end of the ranking, Syria records the world’s highest home price-to-income ratio at 86.7, followed by Sri Lanka (40.8) and China (34.6). South Korea, Thailand, Vietnam, and the Philippines also rank among the world’s least affordable housing markets.

Although China’s housing market has cooled in recent years, home prices remain high relative to household incomes after decades of rapid appreciation fueled by urbanization and investment demand.

Several European countries also post relatively high ratios. Portugal (12.6), France (11.8), Luxembourg (11.5), and Germany (10.7) all rank well above the U.S. (4.5), reflecting affordability pressures across many advanced economies despite generally higher incomes.

Why Housing Affordability Is a Global Challenge

The data shows that housing affordability depends less on a country’s overall wealth than on how closely home prices track local incomes.

Even wealthy economies can become difficult places to buy a home when prices rise faster than wages, while some emerging markets remain comparatively affordable despite lower incomes.

Learn More on the Voronoi App 

To learn more about this topic, check out this graphic on home price-to-income ratios by state.