Least Affordable Housing Is In Mumbai: Study

How long would the average New Yorker have to work to be able to afford a luxury 1,076-square-foot apartment in Manhattan?

About half a lifetime, according to Bloomberg.

And that's not long compared to cities like Shanghai and Mumbai, both of which have the least affordable home markets for locals.

Bloomberg used data from a housing index by international property consultancy Knight Frank LLP and measured it against national income figures from the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency to create its tally of most expensive cities.

In Mumbai--the least affordable city on the list--the average Indian would need over three centuries worth of earnings to afford a 1,076-square-foot apartment, which in the commercial capital of India costs approximately $1.14 million, Bloomberg calculated.

Here are Bloomberg's rankings of the most expensive home markets, listed with the years worth of work it would take for a local to afford a home:

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Comments

[Afterschool Carl]

11:08 PM on 05/08/2012

where is san fran cis co?

[kiran1207]

06:01 PM on 04/13/2012

omg , the notion that a mid westerner is better or superior is ridiculous.

[jonny dipstick]

10:34 AM on 04/13/2012

Mumbai probably is the worst for having really expensive and the poorest of the poor places. Very sad.

[J Nishant Bhajaria]

09:24 PM on 04/27/2012

There are really nice areas in Mumbai, although none as nice as the palace I am sure you live in.

[jonny dipstick]

11:17 PM on 04/27/2012

Is it?

[tissa]

10:21 AM on 04/13/2012

New York is inflated and not worth it.  The people who move there from either overseas or this country move out real fast.

[joekiggy]

11:16 AM on 04/13/2012

They usually don't, but never let statistics or facts keep you from making your NY critiques. After all, they're such a defining hallmark of your second city mentality (well...third-city mentality nowadays). :)

[Katie Scarlett OHara]

12:04 PM on 04/13/2012

People like you are the reason I am so happy to live in Chicago instead of New York. I'll take friendly midwesterners over east coast snobs any day.

[tissa]

10:01 AM on 04/14/2012

Thanks for proving my point EXACTLY.

[kkehoe5]

10:09 AM on 04/13/2012

I loved Sydney, but paying $3 for a can of soda is too rich for my blood. Beautiful city and harbor, would recommend anyone capible of going to visit once in their life.

[joekiggy]

11:20 AM on 04/13/2012

Good lord, I hope that's hyperbole. xD

[biodieselvw]

09:58 AM on 04/13/2012

This list has more to do with expensive cities with a low average income than anything else. What a waste.

[KingLeopold]

09:10 AM on 04/13/2012

Misleading article... It isn't the most expensive cities, it is the most expensive cities for the average person that lives there.

[joekiggy]

11:22 AM on 04/13/2012

That's the usual criteria when deducing the expensiveness of a city, though.

[Assumed Name]

08:24 AM on 04/13/2012

(...no problems: I like trees and grass anyway. :o)

[Actraiser]

07:54 AM on 04/13/2012

When I went to Mumbai, I stayed at a dive that cost the equivalent of 1-2 US dollars a day. The rooms were dreary and the manager had his tv on at full blast all night.

[J Nishant Bhajaria]

09:26 PM on 04/27/2012

Should have sprung for something nicer.

[paganbear]

07:17 AM on 04/13/2012

I'm sorry but Oslo needs to be on this list, I spent 100 dollars on an average dinner (alone) 5 dollars for an avocado, 250 on a 2 star hotel. I love Norway but Oslo needs to be on this list. ( I converted krones to dollars)

[deluk]

09:53 AM on 04/13/2012

the list relates to how expensive property is for the average joe who lives there.

[SoldAmerican]

11:16 PM on 04/13/2012

Norway is a soc!alist heII hole...this country is like Saudi Arabia or Brunai with their Oil wealth.. it hardly produces anything worthwhile... Its unproductive mooch culture of a nasty people

[GelderlandValley]

06:48 AM on 04/13/2012

Geneva is expensive but worth every penny spent.

Great place. love it.

[RiceStarz]

07:40 AM on 04/13/2012

I lived there for 6 years and only came home to help Prez get elected. I love Geneva too and will return there or anywhere after the GE to restore once again Americas reputation internationally after all the teabagger nonsense:-D

[joekiggy]

11:39 AM on 04/13/2012

You work/volunteer for the campaign or something? Just curious

[Paul S]

05:02 AM on 04/13/2012

anyone who spends $1.14 Million to live in Mumbai is an idiot!

[draven646]

06:00 AM on 04/13/2012

India's richest man made a 1 Billion $$ (yes that's a Billion with a B) home there recently..go protest in front of it...the Indian's I've met call it crass but are proud that an Indian businessman is now rich enough to build it.

[whitemale08]

03:13 AM on 04/13/2012

...nothing to be proud of, instead, it shows the foolishness of those who insist on living there for no other then the vain reason to show-off to others that you do.

It also shows the lack of economic planning and development in society today.

[Tom Fennell]

04:49 AM on 04/13/2012

It is much more complicated than that. There are plenty of New Yorkers, Muscovites and and Mumbayans who were born there....

[Kiwi2375]

09:16 AM on 04/13/2012

just shows that real estate is a racket!

[Michael Lindley]

02:13 AM on 04/13/2012

Trickle-down is really effective, isn't it! As long as fabulously wealthy people are who we idolize and laud, the rest of humanity will suffer.

[Team Brogan]

01:51 AM on 04/13/2012

I can only speak to the European cities, but a 1,076 square foot apartment in a city center would be massive. For example, Paris has plenty of more affordable apartments, but a more typical size for one or two people would be 25-40 square meters (about 10 square meters per square foot). And there are HUGE amounts of 'starter' studios for sale (which some people live in most of their lives) that are 15 to 20 square meters. Also massive differences in price from one neighborhood to the next within the same city. So an interesting list, but not really very meaningful in any sense for determining the most expensive city.

[Tom Fennell]

04:53 AM on 04/13/2012

I live in Omaha, with a 100 sq. m. apartment in the middle of wonderful historic entertainment district with 4 m ceilings, panoramic 10 km river valley views in 2 directions, $1,200 a month, and it would cost me about 4 years income to buy if it were for sale.

Life is good.

[GelderlandValley]

06:49 AM on 04/13/2012

hahah I lived in Omaha, 15 years. Not impressed. Moved to Europe 23 years ago.

Would never go back to USA.

[Nigel Humphries]

08:08 AM on 04/13/2012

I think you need to redo your maths. 1 square metre is around 10.7 square feet.