Hong Life CalculatorsHow it works
Price-to-income ratio (PIR) = home price ÷ yearly household income before tax — the number of years of total income the home costs. Demographia’s “median multiple” uses the same ratio with a market’s median house price and median household income and rates it as shown in the table (the ratio is rounded to one decimal). Years of saving = price ÷ (income × savings share), ignoring interest, price growth and loans, so it is only a sense of scale.
Demographia rating categories (median multiple)
| Rating | Median multiple |
|---|---|
| Affordable | 3.0 and under |
| Moderately unaffordable | 3.1 to 4.0 |
| Seriously unaffordable | 4.1 to 5.0 |
| Severely unaffordable | 5.1 to 8.9 |
| Impossibly unaffordable | 9.0 and over |
⚠ Estimates for information only — not financial advice.
FAQ
Why is my ratio different from published PIR figures?
Published figures use the median price of a whole market and the median income of all households there. Your own ratio uses your home and your income, so it can be far above or below.
Does a high ratio mean I cannot buy?
Not necessarily — loans spread the cost over decades. But a high ratio means larger loans, higher payments relative to income and more risk if rates rise.
Checked 11 Nov 2026. Demographia International Housing Affordability, 2026 edition (Chapman University Center for Demographics and Policy), Table 1: housing affordability rating categories by median multiple (median house price ÷ gross median household income).