Housing affordability in China’s top cities is completely broken. Shenzhen now tops the list at 26x income. Beijing: 22x. Shanghai: 21x. Hong Kong: 16.7x. That means even compared with famously expensive cities like Sydney (13.8x), San Jose (11.4x), Vancouver (11.8x), and London (8.1x), China’s biggest urban centers look far more stretched. This is what happens when housing stops being shelter and becomes the core speculative asset of an entire economic model. The real story is what this says about distorted capital allocation, crushed household balance sheets, and why the property downturn is such a structural threat to China’s economy.

Housing is a human right, and fundamental for human dignity. Yet nearly three billion people live in inadequate housing, often in informal settlements and slums. We must put housing at the centre of sustainable development — leaving no one behind.