Vancouver is the Third Most Unaffordable Housing Market in the World

This morning we published a story about an outrageous rental ad for an apartment in Toronto, and how it reflects the desperation many renters face in finding a place to live.

Vancouver would like to have a word.

According to an annual survey from Demographia, Vancouver is the third most unaffordable housing market in the world. Hong Kong and Sydney topped the list of over 400 markets that were analyzed.

Vancouver also ranked third last year, with a second-place finish the year before that.

Toronto, meanwhile, ranked as the 13th most unaffordable housing market in the world. Given current trends in Canadian real estate, it will likely catch up to Vancouver within a few years.

The ranking is determined by the median multiple method, which is the ratio of the median house price by the median gross annual household income. Since 2004 Vancouver’s has more than doubled, from 5.4 to 11.8. Toronto has an equally alarming unaffordability rate, jumping from 3.9 in 2004 to 7.7 in 2016.

Demographia says Vancouver has experienced “the greatest housing market deterioration” among all major markets in the world, and the UBS Global Real Estate Bubble Index has as having the world’s worst real estate bubble risk as a result of “stimulated Asian demand” and “loose credit conditions.”

Here is the full ranking of most unaffordable housing markets in the world:

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And the most unaffordable housing markets in Canada:

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