Portugal, Canada, and the United States were the countries with the highest house price to income ratio in 2024. In all three countries, the index exceeded 130 index points, while the average for all OECD countries stood at 116.2 index points. The index measures the development of housing affordability and is calculated by dividing nominal house price by nominal disposable income per head, with 2015 set as a base year when the index amounted to 100. An index value of 120, for example, would mean that house price growth has outpaced income growth by 20 percent since 2015. How have house prices worldwide changed since the COVID-19 pandemic? House prices started to rise gradually after the global financial crisis (2007–2008), but this trend accelerated with the pandemic. The countries with advanced economies, which usually have mature housing markets, experienced stronger growth than countries with emerging economies. Real house price growth (accounting for inflation) peaked in 2022 and has since lost some of the gain. Although, many countries experienced a decline in house prices, the global house price index shows that property prices in 2023 were still substantially higher than before COVID-19. Renting vs. buying In the past, house prices have grown faster than rents. However, the home affordability has been declining notably, with a direct impact on rental prices. As people struggle to buy a property of their own, they often turn to rental accommodation. This has resulted in a growing demand for rental apartments and soaring rental prices.

The house price to income ratio in the United States has reached concerning levels, with the index hitting ***** in the fourth quarter of 2024. This indicates that house prices have outpaced income growth by over ** percent since 2015, highlighting a growing affordability crisis in the housing market. The widening gap between home prices and wages is putting homeownership out of reach for many Americans, particularly as real wages have remained stagnant. Rising home prices and stagnant wages While average annual real wages in the United States have increased slightly since 2014, home prices have soared. The median sales price of existing single-family homes reached a record-high in 2024, representing a substantial increase over the past five years. This disparity between wage growth and home price appreciation has led to a significant decrease in housing affordability across the country. Affordability challenges in the U.S. housing market The U.S. Housing Affordability Index, which measures whether a family earning the median income can afford a median-priced home, plummeted in 2024, marking the second-worst year for homebuyers since records began. This decline in affordability is reflected in homebuyer sentiment, with homebuyer sentiment plummeting.

United States US: Price to Income Ratio: sa data was reported at 130.892 2015=100 in 2024. This records an increase from the previous number of 129.315 2015=100 for 2023. United States US: Price to Income Ratio: sa data is updated yearly, averaging 113.539 2015=100 from Dec 1970 (Median) to 2024, with 55 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 132.929 2015=100 in 1979 and a record low of 90.287 2015=100 in 2012. United States US: Price to Income Ratio: sa data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. The data is categorized under Global Database’s United States – Table US.OECD.AHPI: House Price Index: Seasonally Adjusted: OECD Member: Annual. Nominal house prices divided by nominal disposable income per head. Net household disposable income is used. The population data come from the OECD national accounts database.

Shelter-cost-to-income ratio by tenure for Canada, provinces and territories, census metropolitan areas and census agglomerations. Includes household total income groups, household type including census family structure, housing suitability and dwelling condition.

The house price ratio in Canada peaked in the second quarter of 2022, followed by three quarters of decline and a slight rebound in 2023. The ratio measures the development of housing affordability and is calculated by dividing nominal house price by nominal disposable income per head, with 2015 set as a base year when the index amounted to 100. Canada's index score in the third quarter of 2024 amounted to *****, which means that house price growth has outpaced income growth by almost ** percent since 2015. Canadian home prices are fallingAfter several years of steady increase, Canadian house prices were forecast to fall slightly in 2023. This was also the case in British Columbia, which has consistently been the most expensive province for housing. This is likely because Vancouver, Canada's most expensive city, is located there. Canadian incomes on the riseIncomes in Canada have steadily risen since 2000 and show no signs of slowing down in the near future. This should improve housing affordability, as long as home price growth slows down.

Context

This dataset is created via OECD datasource which is consisted of 2000 between 2020. https://data.oecd.org/price/housing-prices.htm

Content

The housing prices indicator shows indices of residential property prices over time. Included are rent prices, real and nominal house prices, and ratios of price to rent and price to income; the main elements of housing costs. In most cases, the nominal house price covers the sale of newly-built and existing dwellings, following the recommendations from RPPI (Residential Property Prices Indices) manual. The real house price is given by the ratio of nominal price to the consumers’ expenditure deflator in each country, both seasonally adjusted, from the OECD national accounts database. The price to income ratio is the nominal house price divided by the nominal disposable income per head and can be considered as a measure of affordability. The price to rent ratio is the nominal house price divided by the rent price and can be considered as a measure of the profitability of house ownership. This indicator is an index with base year 2015.

Hungary increased 9% of House Price to Income Ratio in 2019, from a year earlier.

In the first quarter of 2025, the house price to income ratio in Japan stood at *** representing an increase of *** index points compared to the previous quarter. The ratio is calculated by dividing nominal house prices by the nominal disposable income per head based on net household disposable income.

Affordability ratios calculated by dividing house prices for existing dwellings, by gross annual residence-based earnings. Based on the median and lower quartiles of both house prices and earnings in England and Wales.

This dataset contains information about the percent of income households spend on housingin cities in San Mateo County. This data is for owner occupied housing with or without a mortgage. This data was extracted from the United States Census Bureau's American Community Survey 2014 5 year estimates.

The household economic survey (HES) is an annual survey designed to measure the economic wellbeing of New Zealanders. HES has three components: HES income, HES expenditure, and HES net worth. - HES income is the main vehicle, and it is run every year. It includes household income, housing costs, and material wellbeing – this is ‘core’ HES. - HES expenditure includes additional components – an expenditure diary and an expanded household expenditure questionnaire. It runs every three years. - HES net worth includes additional questions on household assets and liabilities. It also runs every three years.

This service shows the proportion of average total income of households which is spent on shelter costs by census subdivision. The data is from the Census Profile, Statistics Canada Catalogue no. 98-316-X2016001. Shelter-cost-to-income ratio is calculated for private households living in owned or rented dwellings who reported a total household income greater than zero. Private households living in band housing, located on an agricultural operation that is operated by a member of the household, and households who reported a zero or negative total household income are excluded. The relatively high shelter-costs-to-household income ratios for some households may have resulted from the difference in the reference period for shelter costs and household total income data. The reference period for shelter cost data is 2016, while household total income is reported for the year 2015. As well, for some households, the 2015 household total income may represent income for only part of a year. For additional information refer to the 2016 Census Dictionary for 'Total income' and 'Shelter cost'. To have a cartographic representation of the ecumene with this socio-economic indicator, it is recommended to add as the first layer, the “NRCan - 2016 population ecumene by census subdivision” web service, accessible in the data resources section below.

Germany DE: Standardised Price-Income Ratio: sa data was reported at 88.538 Ratio in 2024. This records a decrease from the previous number of 93.578 Ratio for 2023. Germany DE: Standardised Price-Income Ratio: sa data is updated yearly, averaging 95.901 Ratio from Dec 1980 (Median) to 2024, with 45 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 146.141 Ratio in 1981 and a record low of 76.343 Ratio in 2010. Germany DE: Standardised Price-Income Ratio: sa data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Germany – Table DE.OECD.AHPI: House Price Index: Seasonally Adjusted: OECD Member: Annual. Nominal house prices divided by nominal disposable income per head. Net household disposable income is used. The population data come from the OECD national accounts database. The long-term average is calculated over the whole period available when the indicator begins after 1980 or after 1980 if the indicator is longer. This value is used as a reference value. The ratio is calculated by dividing the indicator source on this long-term average, and indexed to a reference value equal to 100.

The Global Housing Watch tracks developments in housing markets across the world on a quarterly basis. It provides current data on house prices as well as metrics used to assess valuation in housing markets, such as house price‑to‑rent and house-price‑to‑income ratios.

This collection includes only a subset of indicators from the source dataset.

Japan JP: Standardised Price-Income Ratio: sa data was reported at 87.536 Ratio in 2024. This records a decrease from the previous number of 89.289 Ratio for 2023. Japan JP: Standardised Price-Income Ratio: sa data is updated yearly, averaging 113.262 Ratio from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2024, with 65 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 163.202 Ratio in 1973 and a record low of 73.471 Ratio in 2009. Japan JP: Standardised Price-Income Ratio: sa data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Japan – Table JP.OECD.AHPI: House Price Index: Seasonally Adjusted: OECD Member: Annual. Nominal house prices divided by nominal disposable income per head. Net household disposable income is used. The population data come from the OECD national accounts database. The long-term average is calculated over the whole period available when the indicator begins after 1980 or after 1980 if the indicator is longer. This value is used as a reference value. The ratio is calculated by dividing the indicator source on this long-term average, and indexed to a reference value equal to 100.

Population groups by shelter-cost-to-income ratio groups and core housing need for Canada, provinces and territories, census divisions and census subdivisions. Includes tenure including presence of mortgage payments and subsidized housing (totals include farm operators), gender and primary household maintainer.

Tenure by Housing Costs as a Percentage of Household Income in the Past 12 Months County and State values are from the ACS 1 Year Survey (B25106_001E,B25106_006E,B25106_010E,B25106_014E,B25106_018E,B25106_022E,B25106_028E,B25106_032E,B25106_036E,B25106_040E,B25106_044E)

The house price to income index in Europe declined in almost all European countries in 2023, indicating that income grew faster than house prices. Portugal, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands led the house price to income index ranking in 2023, with values exceeding *** index points. Romania, Bulgaria, and Finland were on the other side of the spectrum, with less than 100 index points. The house price to income ratio is an indicator for the development of housing affordability across OECD countries and is calculated as the nominal house prices divided by nominal disposable income per head, with 2015 chosen as a base year. A ratio higher than 100 means that the nominal house price growth since 2015 has outpaced the nominal disposable income growth, and housing is therefore comparatively less affordable. In 2023, the OECD average stood at ***** index points.

Affordability ratios calculated by dividing house prices by gross annual workplace-based earnings. Based on the median and lower quartiles of both house prices and earnings in England and Wales.

This layer shows housing costs as a percentage of household income by age. This is shown by county boundaries. This service is updated annually to contain the most currently released American Community Survey (ACS) 5-year data, and contains estimates and margins of error. There are also additional calculated attributes related to this topic, which can be mapped or used within analysis. Income is based on earnings in past 12 months of survey. This layer is symbolized to show the predominant housing type for householders where the householder is age 65+ and spending at least 30% of their income on housing.