Auckland housing less affordable than Los Angeles

Posted by MarkL on January 19, 2015

New Zealand's biggest city, Auckland is one of the least affordable cities in the world for housing. 

The Demographia survey, released this month, compares house prices in 378 cities around the round. 

The survey found Auckland was less affordable than Los Angeles, New York, Toronto and Perth. It was only slightly less affordable than London. 

Auckland was one of the least affordable cities due to its high house prices and low incomes and it ranked at number nine.

Hong Kong topped the list, which also had Sydney, Melbourne, San Francisco and Vancouver in the top ten.

The New Zealand Herald reported in 2013, the survey found the median house price here was $506,800 and the median household income was $75,200. This gave the city a total "median multiple" of 6.7 (house prices divided by incomes). Anything more than 3 is regarded as unaffordable.

Last year, Auckland's median price jumped to $561,700 but the median household income fell to $70,500, giving a median multiple of 8 the Herald said. 

Property Council chief Connal Townsend told the Herald he blamed Auckland Council's planning regulations.

"We've got houses more expensive than LA. How is this possible? A dump in Pt Chevalier demands a million dollars, which gets you a mansion in Beverly Hills. We've reached the point of madness."