THE GLOBAL HOUSING AFFORDABILITY CRISIS: EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE FROM OECD COUNTRIES AND UZBEKISTAN
Annotatsiya
One of the largest issues in the modern economics is the housing affordability crisis. Housing prices are increasing faster than the income of people, both in the developed and developing world. I analyzed the information provided by OECD Affordable Housing Database (2010-2025), Dermographia International Housing Affordability Survey (2025 edition), IMF reports and the Central Bank and National Statistics Committee of Uzbekistan. Through comparison of price-to-income (P/I) ratios over time, the research demonstrates that price-to-income restrictions on building new homes, exacerbated by the demand spurt following COVID and the low interest rate environment that persisted up to 2022 is the primary cause of unaffordability. According to key findings, median price-income ratio in 95 large markets is expected to reach 5.1 in the third quarter of 2024, or almost all of them are intensely unaffordable, not affordable at all. The ratio is very high in countries with stringent urban containment policies, such as Australia (9.7) and Canada (5.4) compared to less stringent countries. In Uzbekistan, in 2023, the ratio in Tashkent was approximately 12.9, but increased to an affordability index of 121 per cent by mid-2025 due to increased real incomes and less price growth. The crisis weakens the ease with which the workers can switch between jobs, increases inequality, and jeopardizes financial stability. As a solution to this, the policy recommendations revolve around amending the zoning laws, hiking housing supply, and providing specific subsidies. The research is composed at the undergraduate level to contribute to the literature at the intersection of OECD trends and a case in an emerging market, providing the useful ideas to discuss the sustainable planning of the cities.