Saudi Arabia Most Affordable Country in the World to Buy a Home

U.S. Homes Ranks Third Most Affordable Country in 2021

Based on a new global home affordability study from British based building supplier Roofing Megastore, Saudi Arabia, with an average annual salary of just over $20,354.90, and a 100 square meter (sqm) home costing just $90,774.38, is the world's most affordable country to buy a home in 2021.

To develop the ranking, the research team at Roofing Megastore calculated the average cost of one square meter of real estate in 109 countries around the world - the cost was then multiplied by 100 to show how much a 100 sqm home would cost on average.

To provide a more accurate picture of affordability, average earnings (after tax) were also factored in to show the annual salary as a percentage of the cost of a 100sqm home. To illustrate the vast difference between the most and least affordable places, the study also reveals how many years it would take to buy a 100sqm home on an average annual salary.

When taking earning potential into account, one full year's wage in Saudi Arabia would in fact equate to more than 22% of the cost of an entire home, which means in less than five years, there'd be enough to buy a home outright if all of the salary was saved and not spent.

South Africa's wage to home-cost ratio comes in at 18%, which takes second place in the top 50 list, and the US, with annual average salaries equaling over 15% of the cost of a home, is the third most affordable place to buy a home in the world.

A yearly salary in Puerto Rico is the equivalent of almost $21,637.65, and on average, a 100 sqm home costs just over $239,530.00 - so an average annual wage would be around 14% of the cost of a home.

The United Arab Emirates is fractionally less affordable when it comes to property than Puerto Rico, and with an average home costing almost $239,530.00 and an annual salary bringing in almost $32,558.63, it rounds off the top five, in fifth position.

At the other end of the scale, it's no surprise that infamously expensive South Korea and Hong Kong feature in the top 10 least affordable countries to buy a home in.

The number one least affordable place to buy a home though is Ghana - average property prices stand at just over $510,658.55, but the average annual salary is only around $3,420.47, which means it would take 149 years to save up enough to buy a home if none of the wage was ever spent.

It's cheaper to buy property in Sri Lanka - on average a 100 sqm home costs around $212,748.44, but the average annual salary is also low at just under $3,000 a year. This equates to just 1.33% of the cost of a home and would take 75 years of saving and not spending anything at all, to be able to buy a 100sqm home.

Third place Hong Kong has the highest property prices in the entire study - netting out at $212,748.44 for an average 100 sqm home. On average, a yearly salary in Hong Kong would bring in almost $37,755.49, which is equivalent to 1.36% when compared to the cost of a home.

In fourth position is Jamaica (1.63%), and rounding off the top five least affordable countries to purchase a home when factoring in purchasing power, is Iran (1.72%).

Just outside the top five is infamously expensive South Korea. Average salaries stand at $26,571.03 on average and although this is higher than four of the top five least affordable places, a 100sqm home would cost over $1 million, which means it would take 47 years to buy a home outright if you earned an average salary in South Korea and none of it was spent.

Gian-Carlo Grossi, Managing Director at Roofing Megastore commented: "Although in reality, it would be impossible to save 100% of your wage and not use any for standard costs of living, the length-of-time-to-buy equation serves to really illustrate the difference between the most and least affordable places to buy a home around the world."