As mortgage interest rates have soared over the past few years and real estate prices have outpaced wage growth, housing affordability has become a global pressure point for millions of home buyers. In light of this, I am reaching out with a new report, comparing the real interest rates of mortgages and home affordability across 67 countries worldwide.
Home prices remain stubbornly high across much of the globe, while mortgage rates have been slow to follow central banks’ recent interest rate cuts in response to easing inflation. For many first-time buyers, taking out a mortgage remains out of reach and homeownership is postponed indefinitely.
But affordability looks very different depending on one’s location. For this reason, the team at BestBrokers analysed the real mortgage interest rates in 67 countries, factoring in inflation data as of June 2025, and compared average property prices to local wages to better understand the ‘real’ cost of borrowing across global markets. The complete dataset is available on Google Drive via this link.
Data reveals that the most affordable countries to buy a home right now are South Africa and the United States, where the average price of a 100-square-metre home (1,076 sq. ft.) equates to just 6 to 7 years of wages. In stark contrast, prospective buyers in Nepal and China face a daunting challenge, with home prices demanding between 56 and 72 years of income, assuming they save every penny.
Here are a few key takeaways from the report:
- South Africa leads global housing affordability, with annual income accounting for 18.19% of the average home price. This means that, on average, a prospective buyer needs to accumulate about 66 monthly salaries, or roughly 6.3 years of income, to purchase a standard 100-square-metre home. Despite the nominal mortgage rates still being relatively high at around 11.58%, the combination of moderate property prices and local income ranks the country as the most affordable market in the study, even amid broader global challenges like inflation and economic uncertainty.
- In Europe, Finland has the most affordable housing market relative to income, with the annual salary accounting for roughly 12% of the price of a home. This means that Finnish home buyers with average earnings need just 101 monthly wages to be able to afford a 100-sq.-m. Apartment.
- The United States ranks second with an annual salary accounting for 16.92% of the home price, corresponding to approximately 71 monthly wages or just under 7 years of income to afford a comparable 100-square-metre property. The U.S. average home price per square metre stands at about $2,988, or roughly $277.66 per square foot, which is moderate compared to ultra-high-cost markets such as Switzerland or South Korea.
- Bahrain and Denmark are also among the most affordable housing markets, with income-to-price ratios just above 11%, requiring around 10 years of income to buy a 100-square-metre home. In Ireland, home buyers need an average of 120 monthly wages to be able to purchase an equally sized property.
- In Nepal, China, India, and Turkey, home prices are roughly 500 to 600 times the average monthly income, making ownership a multi-decade challenge. For instance, in Nepal, with a monthly wage of about $207 and an average price per square metre of around $1,549, it would take nearly 62 years of wages to buy a typical apartment. China and India show similar gaps, requiring over 48 and 47 years of income, respectively.
- Nine of the 67 countries analysed have negative real mortgage interest rates, where inflation exceeds nominal rates, effectively lowering borrowing costs over time. Standouts include Ukraine (-6.02%), Bulgaria (-1.66%), Japan (-1.53%), and Argentina, which eased from an extreme -175% last year to -1.56% in 2025.
The report reveals distinct regional variations in housing affordability, measured by the number of monthly wages needed to purchase a home. South and Southeast Asia, including countries like Nepal, China, and India, face the greatest challenge, requiring between 500 and 750 monthly wages.
This reflects very low affordability, with annual wages covering only about 2.5% of the property price. Eastern Europe and Latin America fall into a moderate affordability range, needing roughly 200 to 400 monthly wages, corresponding to wage-to-price ratios between 3% and 7%.
In contrast, Western Europe, North America, and Oceania generally exhibit higher affordability, often requiring fewer than 150 monthly wages, with wage-to-price ratios ranging from 7% up to nearly 17% in the United States. South Africa, as mentioned above, stands out as the most affordable region, with the lowest monthly wage requirement and the cheapest property prices overall.
More information about the mortgage rates, property prices and salaries can be found in the full report. It also includes the full methodology used in calculating the so-called ‘real’ interest rates, whereas the complete data on all 67 countries is available on Google Drive via this link. Feel free to use any data or graphics from the report by providing a link attribution to the original work.
