Hong Kong remains the least affordable metropolis for homebuyers among the cities surveyed by UBS: a skilled service sector worker needs about 15 years’ worth of annual income to purchase a 60-square-meter apartment near the city center.
These figures are contained in the UBS Global Real Estate Bubble Index 2026, published on September 22.
More than ten years’ income is also required to purchase a similar apartment in Tokyo, Paris, London, and Seoul.
UBS also notes a high burden on buyers’ incomes in Singapore, Lisbon, Zurich, Geneva, São Paulo, Munich, Sydney, Milan, and New York.
At the other end of the ranking are Miami and Dubai. A 60-square-meter apartment there costs roughly five times the annual income of a skilled worker.
However, a relatively lower ratio of real estate prices to wages does not necessarily mean affordable housing. In the U.S. and Canada, affordability is further limited by high mortgage rates, bank requirements, and other costs of homeownership.
According to UBS’s calculations, compared to 2021, the average skilled worker in the cities surveyed can now afford about one-third less living space on their income.
Separately, UBS compared real estate prices to rent. The highest ratio was recorded in Zurich: the cost of an apartment is equivalent to approximately 46 years of rent. In Geneva, the ratio is about 40 years, while in Munich, Frankfurt, and Hong Kong, it exceeds 30 years.
A high ratio of purchase price to rent may indicate that investors are anticipating further significant price increases. If such expectations wane, the risk of property value losses increases, notes UBS.
Kyiv was not included in this study.
