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Collaboration on energy efficiency can tackle the crisis in the UK’s private rented sector, says Iryna Pylypchuk​​, Director of Research and Market Information at INREV.

Earlier this month, the RICS Residential Survey for May once again confirmed continuing expectations for rental price increases, alongside an imbalance between tenant demand and available supply. But when people can no longer afford to live in their homes and houses are not fit for purpose, do we need much more evidence to accept that the UK is facing a housing crisis?

Despite supply gaps being identified across the full spectrum of housing in the UK, for several years the private rented sector (PRS) has been badly affected. This has been caused by lagging housing policy that has failed to adequately react to significant shifts in socio-demographics.

Delays in family formation, rising divorce rates, and an increasingly mobile population have led to sharp demand increases for affordable, centrally located housing units or co-living solutions not only for sale but also for medium- to long-term tenure. And this demand has only been compounded as house price growth and high interest rates in the UK have constrained owner-occupation, particularly among younger or single households, and more recently broadening to middle-income households.

These factors, on top of population growth and rapid urbanisation have fundamentally changed demand for housing across location, tenure, and quantity. This is by no means a problem unique to the UK. Our recent research also highlighted a clear opportunity – and need – for institutional capital to positively contribute to the ongoing housing crisis across Europe. The excess housing demand on the continent requires the rapid acceleration of housing supply across all segments, especially the affordable intermediary PRS.

However, the free market in the UK means that it also has no form of rental regulation and weaker security of tenure – greatly exacerbating existing challenges. For instance, the National Housing Federation (NHF) estimates that approximately eight million have some form of housing need in the UK, and of these, 3.6 million require social or affordable housing.

Bridging affordability and sustainability  

Alongside supply imbalances in the rental market, there are ongoing questions about what should be considered ‘affordable’ rent. In the UK, this is broadly defined as homes let at least 20% below local market rents or let at rates set between market rents and social rents.

However, this unfortunately remains unaffordable to many in

Mapped: The World’s Least Affordable Housing Markets in 2024

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June 24, 2024 Graphics/Design:

See this visualization first on the Voronoi app.

The World’s Least Affordable Housing Markets in 2024

This was originally posted on our Voronoi app. Download the app for free on iOS or Android and discover incredible data-driven charts from a variety of trusted sources.

Many cities around the world have become very expensive to buy a home in, but which ones are the absolute most unattainable?

In this graphic, we highlight a number of housing markets that are deemed to be “impossibly unaffordable” in 2024, ranked by their median price-to-income ratio.

This data comes from the Demographia International Housing Affordability Report, which is produced by the Chapman University Center for Demographics and Policy.

Data and Key Takeaway

The median price-to-income ratio compares median house price to median household income within each market. A higher ratio (higher prices relative to incomes) means a city is less affordable.

See the following table for all of the data we used to create this graphic. Note that this analysis covers 94 markets across eight countries: Australia, Canada, China, Ireland, New Zealand, Singapore, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

RankMetropolitan MarketCountryMedian price-to-income
ratio 1Hong Kong (SAR)🇨🇳 China16.7 2Sydney🇦🇺 Australia13.8 3Vancouver🇨🇦 Canada12.3 4San Jose🇺🇸 U.S.11.9 5Los Angeles🇺🇸 U.S.10.9 6Honolulu🇺🇸 U.S.10.5 7Melbourne🇦🇺 Australia9.8 8San Francisco🇺🇸 U.S.9.7 9Adelaide🇦🇺 Australia9.7 10San Diego🇺🇸 U.S.9.5 11Toronto🇨🇦 Canada9.3 12Auckland🇳🇿 New Zealand8.2

According to the Demographia report, cities with a median price-to-income ratio of over 9.0 are considered “impossibly unaffordable”.

We can see that the top city in this ranking, Hong Kong, has a ratio of 16.7. This means that the median price of a home is 16.7 times greater than the median income.

Which Cities are More Affordable?

On the flipside, here are the top 12 most affordable cities that were analyzed in the Demographia report.

RankMetropolitan MarketCountryMedian price-to-income
ratio 1Pittsburgh🇺🇸 U.S.3.1 2Rochester🇺🇸 U.S.3.4 2St. Louis🇺🇸 U.S.3.4 4Cleveland🇺🇸 U.S.3.5 5Edmonton🇨🇦 Canada3.6 5Buffalo🇺🇸 U.S.3.6 5Detroit🇺🇸 U.S.3.6 5Oklahoma City🇺🇸 U.S.3.6 9Cincinnati🇺🇸 U.S.3.7

Ranked: U.S. Cities with the Highest Rent in 2024

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June 11, 2024 Graphics/Design:

See this visualization first on the Voronoi app.

Ranked: U.S. Cities with the Highest Rent in 2024

This was originally posted on our Voronoi app. Download the app for free on iOS or Android and discover incredible data-driven charts from a variety of trusted sources.

Rental prices have surged in several American cities in recent years. Factors such as inflation, a limited housing inventory, a changing workforce, and barriers to homeownership have all contributed to the increase in rent costs.

This graphic shows the top 10 American cities with the highest rental costs as of May 2024, according to the Zumper National Rent Index. Prices are for 1-bedroom units.

NYC Prices: $4,200 for One-Bedroom

New York tops the list with an average monthly cost of $4,200 for a one-bedroom apartment. Not only is it expensive, but due to high demand, living in the Big Apple can be competitive.

While half of all renters in the U.S. spend more than 30% of their income on rent, residents in New York can spend more than 40% of their income renting a place.

RankingCityPrice in 2024Price in 2023YOY change 1New York, NY$4,200$3,78011.1% 2Jersey City, NJ$3,330$3,1814.7% 3San Francisco, CA$2,950$3,001-1.7% 4Boston, MA$2,830$2,7004.8% 5Miami, FL$2,770$2,900-4.5% 6San Jose, CA$2,570$2,630-2.3% 7Arlington, VA$2,380$2,2993.5% 8San Diego, CA$2,370$2,401-1.3% 9Washington, DC$2,300$2,371-3.0% 9Los Angeles, CA$2,300$2,421-5.0%

Across the Hudson River, Jersey City ranks second, with one-bedroom suites priced at $3,330.

On the West Coast, San Francisco leads with $2,950 for a one-bedroom unit. Four of the 10 most expensive cities to rent are in California.

According to a study by Harvard University, the pandemic has intensified the housing affordability crisis in the United States. While high-end market supply may offer some relief to middle and higher-income renters, lower-income households will continue to struggle due to high construction costs and market dynamics.

What are the most valuable housing markets in the United States? We ranked housing markets in this chart to find out.

What History Reveals About Interest Rate Cuts

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May 23, 2024 Graphics & Design What History Reveals About Interest Rate Cuts

The Federal Reserve has overseen seven cycles of interest rate cuts, averaging 26 months and 6.35 percentage points (ppts) each.

We’ve partnered with New York Life Investments to examine the impact of interest rate cut cycles on the economy and on the performance of financial assets in the U.S. to help keep investors informed. 

A Brief History of Interest Rate Cuts

Interest rates are a powerful tool that the central bank can use to spur economic activity. 

Typically, when the economy experiences a slowdown or a recession, the Federal Reserve will respond by cutting interest rates. As a result, each of the previous seven rate cut cycles—shown in the table below—occurred during or around U.S. recessions, according to data from the Federal Reserve. 

Interest Rate Cut CycleMagnitude (ppts) July 2019–April 2020-2.4 July 2007–December 2008-5.1 November 2000–July 2003-5.5 May 1989–December 1992-6.9 August 1984–October 1986-5.8 July 1981–February 1983-10.5 July 1974–January 1977-8.3 Average-6.4

Understanding past economic and financial impacts of interest rate cuts can help investors prepare for future monetary policy changes.

The Economic Response: Inflation

During past cycles, data from the Federal Reserve, shows that, on average, the inflation rate continued to decline throughout (-3.4 percentage points), largely due to the lagged effects of a slower economy that normally precedes interest rate declines. 

CycleStart to end change (ppts)End to one year later (ppts) July 2019–April 2020-1.5+3.8 July 2007–December 2008-2.3+2.6 November 2000–July 2003-1.3+0.9 May 1989–December 1992-2.5-0.2 August 1984–October 1986-2.8+3.1 July 1981–February 1983-7.3+1.1 July 1974–January 1977-6.3+1.6 Average-3.4+1.9

However, inflation played catch-up and rose by +1.9 percentage points one year after the final rate cut. With lower interest rates, consumers were incentivized to spend more and save less, which led to an uptick in the price of goods and services in six of the past seven cycles. 

The Economic Response: Real Consumer Spending Growth

Real consumer spending growth, as measured by the Bureau of Economic Analysis, typically reacted to rate