Sydney has ranked as the third least affordable city in the world, and Australia has been named "severely unaffordable" in a new housing survey.
The Demographia International Housing Affordability Survey has ranked Sydney as number three in a list of the world's least affordable housing markets. The survey ranks markets by using a house price to income ration. Demographia ranked Sydney median house prices as 9.8 times median income.
While the figure may give potential homebuyers pause, Vancouver and Hong Kong both ranked as less affordable than Sydney. Buyers in Vancouver could face prices 10.6 times median incomes, while Hong Kong median house prices were 17 times median income, the survey claimed.
Australia on a whole ranked as a severely unaffordable market. All five major markets across the country were rated as severely unaffordable. Demographia claimed the median house price across major markets was 5.5 times the median income.
The United States ranked as the most affordable housing market in the Demographia survey, with 37 major markets rated as affordable or moderately affordable, and only nine markets rated as severely unaffordable.
