See this visualization first on the Voronoi app.
Use This Visualization
How Many Years of Work It Takes to Buy a Condo, by City
This was originally posted on our Voronoi app. Download the app for free on iOS or Android and discover incredible data-driven charts from a variety of trusted sources.
The rapid rise in global housing prices since 2020 has made buying a condo increasingly out of reach for many people today.
In Tokyo, affording a condo now demands the combined income of 14 average workers, cementing its status as one of the world’s least affordable cities. By contrast, this drops to five workers’ salaries in San Francisco, due to higher average incomes fueled by the tech industry.
This graphic shows how long it would take to save for a condo across select housing bubble markets, based on data from the UBS Global Real Estate Bubble Index 2024.
Buying a Condo in Hong Kong is Extremely Costly
Below, we show the world’s most unaffordable housing bubble cities, based on the average number of years that a skilled worker must work in order to afford a 650 square foot condo near the city center:
| Rank | City | Average years of work (skilled worker) to buy a 650 sqft condo near city center |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hong Kong | 22 |
| 2 | Tokyo | 14 |
| 3 | Paris | 13 |
| 4 | London | 12 |
| 5 | Tel Aviv | 10 |
| 6 | Singapore | 10 |
| 7 | Sydney | 9 |
| 8 | Zurich | 8 |
| 9 | Vancouver | 8 |
| 10 | Munich | 8 |
| 11 | New York | 8 |
| 12 | São Paulo | 8 |
| 13 | Los Angeles | 7 |
| 14 | Geneva | 7 |
| 15 | Amsterdam | 7 |
Hong Kong, ranked the most unaffordable city globally for 14 consecutive years, requires over two decades of income from an average skilled worker to afford a condo.
For context, mid-range properties near the city center average $2,560 per square foot—significantly higher than New York, where prices range between $1,500 and $2,000 per square foot. Even though Hong Kong’s property prices have dropped to 12-year lows in real terms, homeownership remains elusive for most residents.
Meanwhile, Paris holds the title of Europe’s least affordable city, despite real housing prices falling more than 20% from their post-pandemic peaks. It would take 13 years for the average skilled worker in the city to afford a condo, with London following closely behind, at 12 years.
In New York, the median sale price of a condo or co-op in Manhattan was nearly $1.2 million by the end of 2023, reflecting a 44% increase in price per square foot over the past decade. New York stands as the most unaffordable city in America, requiring the combined income of eight workers to buy a condo near the city center.
Learn More on the Voronoi App
To learn more about this topic from a U.S.-based perspective, check out this graphic on the metros with the fastest-rising home prices.
The post How Many Years of Work It Takes to Buy a Condo, by Global City appeared first on Visual Capitalist.