A new international housing survey confirms what every Hongkonger already knows - Hong Kong homes are 'severely unaffordable'.
The city's housing was found to be the least affordable in the survey, beating London, New York, San Francisco, and other high-priced locales.
The median home in Hong Kong costs 11.4 times gross annual median household income, according to a report by the US-based consulting company Demographia, which examined housing affordability in six countries and Hong Kong for the third quarter of 2010.
This is the first time Hong Kong has been included in the survey, which compares major metropolitan areas in Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Ireland, New Zealand, the UK and the US.
The report noted that only one city, Los Angeles, has equalled or exceeded Hong Kong's 'median multiple' (the median house price divided by gross annual median household income) in the seven-year history of the survey.
Markets where home prices are 5.1 times household income or more are considered 'severely unaffordable' by the report.
Home prices in Hong Kong have surged more than 50 per cent in the past two years, powered by interest rates at a two-decade low, an expanding economy and an influx of buyers from the mainland.
