Hong Kong has once again topped the list of the most unaffordable housing markets in the world, according to this year’s Demographia International Housing Affordability report. The median house price in Macao’s neighbouring SAR in 2024 was 14.4 times the median household income, falling into the report’s highest category of “impossibly unaffordable.”
The SAR has not left the top spot since its inclusion in the list 14 years ago.
That said, Hong Kong’s current housing market is still marginally softer than it has been in the past. In 2023, the median multiple was 16.7, while pre-pandemic levels reached 20.8 in 2019.
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American urban policy analyst Wendell Cox, who authored the report, wrote that Hong Kong’s housing affordability may continue to improve in the future. Two major developments, the Northern Metropolis district and the Lantau Tomorrow Vision land reclamation project, will add hundreds of thousands of units to local housing stock in future decades.
The statistics come as Hong Kong works to improve housing access for its residents, including the establishment of an extra ballot entry for Home Ownership Scheme applicants under the age of 40.
Due to the high prices for housing, the city is known for its notoriously cramped subdivided units – dubbed “coffin homes” for their tiny size – which local authorities hope to convert into more livable “basic housing units” by 2026.
