Hong Kong has the least affordable housing of 87 major global cities, with prices a record 19 times average pre-tax household income, a new survey said, AFP reported. Housing in the southern city is classified as “severely unaffordable”, a report from think-tank Demographia said. The rating was the least affordable ever recorded in the 12-year history of the organization’s international housing affordability survey, the report said. Buoyed by increasing demand, wealthy mainland Chinese investors and US monetary policy—which has fuelled a borrowing spree thanks to low interest rates—Hong Kong has become one of the world’s least affordable places for home ownership. A 40-square meter (430-square foot) flat would be expected to set a buyer back more than $750,000, according to data from the Hong Kong Property Review. However, analysts have predicted the city’s property bubble will burst as US interest rates rise. In the Demographia survey, Sydney ranked as the second least affordable city with Vancouver third. The survey covered cities in Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Ireland, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, Britain and the US.
