Here are the most and least affordable major cities in the world

Pittsburgh is known for its steel industry and bringing ketchup for the French fry-loving masses. It also happens to be one of the most accessible places in the world, according to a new to study.

In a report on international housing affordability by Chapman University and the Frontier Center for Public Policy, a Canadian think tank, Pittsburgh earned the title of most affordable among 94 large metropolitan areas in eight countries. The researchers based their rankings on median home price and 2022 median household income data.

Using a housing industry metric known as the price-to-income ratio, researchers divided a community’s median home price by the median household income of its residents to determine an affordability score for each city in the study. Cities with scores above 9 are considered “impossibly unaffordable” for residents. Pittsburgh received a score of 3.1, while Rochester and St. Louis received 3.4.

In cities like Charlotte, North Carolina; Boise, Idaho and Phoenix, home prices spiked dramatically after the pandemic and took months to cool down. But that same trend hasn’t happened in Pittsburgh, real estate agent Michael Reed of Coldwell Banker Realty told CBS MoneyWatch, adding that home prices in the city have remained stable in recent years.

Stable home prices, combined with solid incomes in the health care and technology sector, have kept Pittsburgh affordable, Reed said, although prices could eventually rise as elderly residents outbid younger homebuyers. smaller.

“A lot of our older population is shrinking and that group tends to have a lot of money and does better in the market than our younger, newer buyers,” Reed said. “So that could start to increase our prices.”

The median home sale price in Pittsburgh was $235,000 in May, down nearly 8% from the previous year. according to for online real estate brokerage Redfin.

In most of the country, the housing market has been tough for buyers and sellers this year as home prices hit record highs and mortgage rates hover around 7%. The median U.S. home price reached an all-time high last week of $394,000, up 4.4% from a year ago, according to Redfin.

House prices rise faster than income around the world

Admittedly, rising home prices are not a uniquely American issue, said Wendell Cox, the study’s author.

“For decades, home prices have generally risen at roughly the same rate as income, and home ownership has become more widespread,” Cox said in the study. “But affordability is disappearing in high-income countries as housing costs now far exceeds income growth. The crisis stems primarily from land use policies that artificially restrict housing supply, driving up land prices and making home ownership unattainable for many.”

Despite these issues, the US is home to nine of the 10 most affordable cities in Chapman’s study. On the other hand, five US cities ranked among the study’s top 10 least affordable cities. Hong Kong is the least accessible city in the world, with a score of 16.7. Sydney, Australia is a distant second at 13.3, followed by Vancouver at 12.3.

Here are the most accessible major cities in the world, according to the Chapman study:

1. Pittsburgh (USA)
2. Rochester, New York (USA)
3. St. Louis (USA)
4. Cleveland (USA)
5. Edmonton, Alberta (Canada)
6. Buffalo, New York (USA)
7. Detroit (USA)
8. Oklahoma City (USA)
9. Cincinnati (USA)
10. Louisville, Kentucky (USA)

Here are the top least accessible cities in the world, according to the Chapman study:

1. Hong Kong (China)
2. Sydney, New South Wales (Australia)
3. Vancouver, British Columbia (Canada)
4. San Jose, California (USA)
5. Los Angeles (USA)
6. Honolulu (USA)
7. Melbourne, Victoria (Australia)
8. San Francisco (USA)
9. Adelaide, South Australia (Australia)
10. San Diego (USA)