Big cities like Hong Kong or Los Angeles are well-known for their expensive real estate markets. But there are also plenty of housing markets you wouldn’t necessarily expect among the least affordable – including several in Australia, New Zealand and Canada.
According to a 2026 ranking by Forbes, Hong Kong remains the world’s least affordable housing market, with median home prices still more than 16 times higher than median pre-tax household incomes, based on the dominant housing type in each market. It is followed by Sydney (13.8) and Vancouver (11.8), while several U.S. cities, including San Jose (11.4), Los Angeles (10.9) and Honolulu (10.5), also rank among the least affordable. The first European market in the ranking is London, with a price-to-income ratio of 8.1. Overall, the list highlights the continued dominance of major cities in Australia, Canada and the United States.
While affordability ratios have eased slightly in some markets in recent years, the broader trend remains unchanged. Across most major urban areas, ratios still hover well above historic norms, often in the 8-to-14 range, meaning housing costs continue to outpace incomes by a wide margin and keep homeownership out of reach for large parts of the population.
