A new study from the Urban Reform Institute and the Frontier Centre for Public Policy finds the U.S. as the most affordable country in the world. The housing markets of Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Ireland, Singapore, and the U.K. were also ranked.
The Demographia International Housing Affordability report found that the least affordable market is Hong Kong, followed by Sydney, Australia; Vancouver, Canada; San Jose, California; and Melbourne, Australia. The most affordable market in the world is Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The other cities rounding out the most affordable in the world are Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; Rochester, New York; Edmonton, Alberta, Canada; and St. Louis, Missouri. Charlotte came in the middle at number 49 on the list.
“As the pandemic and lockdowns continued into a second year, the movement of households from denser urban neighborhoods to larger homes, often with large yards (gardens) in suburban and outlying areas has continued. The result has been to drive up prices at unprecedented rates in many markets. As a result many low-income and middle-income households who already have suffered the worst consequences from housing inflation will see their standards of living further decline,” said author of the report Wendell Cox, a senior fellow at both the Frontier Centre for Public Policy and the Urban Reform Institute.
Cox went on to say “Housing affordability is particularly critical due to the strong increase in remote working (telework) during the pandemic which is accelerating the movement to more affordable places. It will likely also help flatten or even reduce prices in the highest cost housing markets as other households seek less costly housing elsewhere. We hope that the losses sustained during the pandemic will be quickly reversed and the increasing inequality attributable to higher house prices will become a thing of the past.”
The study determined housing affordability for middle-income households by comparing home prices to household incomes in 92 cities and eight different countries for the third quarter of 2021, and then ranked them from most to least affordable.
The median listing price for a typical Pittsburgh home is $222,500, according to data from Realtor.com. This is a favorable comparison to the national median listing price of $405,000. Pittsburgh is also seeing an increase in inventory, so buyers have more options when it comes to their home search. There is currently a two-month supply of homes for sell nationally which is well below what many experts consider “healthy”, a six-month supply. Additionally, the median number of days a house sits on the market in Pittsburgh is 61 which is much longer compared to other U.S. cities. For example, the median number of days a house stays on the market in Denver, Colorado is nine.
You can view the full report here
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