How Much Home Could You Afford Around The World?

It costs more than ever to get your foot on the property ladder and own your own home, but how does real estate affordability compare across the globe?

As an example, while someone earning the average salary in the US could afford a property of around 670 ft² in size, the typical Brit would only be able to afford around 215 ft²; a 68% reduction in size.

To demonstrate the affordability of property around the world, Homes.com set out to research the cost per square ft of homes in all 36 OECD countries alongside the median annual household income in each, assuming a salary multiplier of 3x for affordability.

How Much Home Could the Median Household Income Around the World Buy?

When it comes to the country where you can get the most home for your money; Turkey leads the way, with locals being able to purchase 742ft² when earning a median household income of $17,067, however, the US closely follows in the second spot with earnings of $44,049 affording 669.4 ft² of home. The third spot on the affordability ranking goes to Mexico at 462.5 ft², followed by Russia and Slovakia with 414.7 ft² and 350 ft² respectively.

On the other end of the affordability scale, South Korea comes out as the least affordable property market (that’s where it’s hardest to buy and get onto the property ladder as an average earner), with the median household income of $21,723 affording just 84.4 ft² of home.

Switzerland comes in as the second least affordable property market for average earners, with an income of $36,378 affording 112.9 ft², followed closely by Israel at 129.9ft² on the median salary of $24,063. The five least affordable countries also include Japan (157.5 ft²) and Luxembourg (161.2 ft²).

A Whole Different World Of Affordability

When comparing the size of home that could be purchased in the most affordable market (Turkey) with the least affordable (South Korea), we see a staggering difference in size of 658 ft² and difference in price of $898 per ft².

The American Dream of becoming a homeowner suddenly seems quite attainable when you compare to 34 of the other 35 OECD markets, acknowledging that the size of home purchased is considerably less.

How Much Home Could Your Salary Buy You?

While the above looks at how much home the median household income could buy around the world, perhaps you’re wondering what your own salary could buy you in different property markets?

We’ve launched an interactive calculator to reveal just that; revealing the average square foot your money could buy you in all 36 OECD countries.

You can try out the calculator for yourself! How much home can you afford around the world?

Methodology
Using average house price data from Numbeo we calculated the average house cost per square feet in the 36 OECD countries.

We then took the household net-adjusted disposable income for each country from the OECD Better Life Index to calculate how many square feet you’d be able to afford in each country.

Please note: The figures supplied above are estimated based upon the average price per ft² in all 36 OECD countries. There are affordable and expensive homes available in all markets and the assumption of a salary multiplier of 3 was utilized for a fair comparison. We recommend you seek independent financial advice to determine how much you may be able to borrow on a mortgage.