Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June 10) — Manila has become the second worst city in Asia in terms of property affordability, recent research by a UK-based mortgage company revealed.

Online Mortgage Advisor found that the Philippine capital is the least affordable city for buying property in Asia next to Mashdad in Iran. 

“We compared the average price of one square meter of an apartment in the city center of Manila to the average annual salary in 2016 and 2020,” noted the firm, which covered 212 global cities in the analysis.

It found that workers in Manila could only afford 1.5 square meters of property last year, 2.76 sq.m. less than the 4.6 sq.m. in 2016.

This makes the city “worse than property hotspots such as Riyadh in Saudi Arabia, Taipei in Taiwan, and Seoul in South Korea,” added Online Mortgage Advisor.

Riyadh ranked sixth in the list of least affordable Asian cities for buying housing space. Taipei and Seoul placed eighth and tenth, respectively.

Tehran, Iran; Vadodara, India; Pune, India; Hyderabad, India; and Krasnodar, India complete the top 10 list.

Manila now 64% less affordable to renters

The company also found that affordability in renting space in Manila fell by 64% in 2020 compared to 2016.

“In 2016, the average rental price of a property in Manila equated to 90% of an average local's monthly salary. This jumped to a staggering 154% in 2020,” it further noted.

Manila placed third among cities that got less affordable for renters, next to Tehran and Mashdad.

Completing the list are Colombo, Sri Lanka; Lahore, Pakistan; Mumbai, India; Bangkok, Thailand; along with Vadodara, Jaipur and Ahmedabad in India.

Online Mortgage Advisor said it used the latest raw figures from online database Numbeo on city affordability. Its metrics were the price of a one-bedroom apartment in a city center, monthly net salary after tax, price per square feet to buy such an apartment, and average salary of local workers.

Source: CNN Philippines (https://cnnphilippines.com/business/2021/6/10/Manila-2nd-least-affordable-city-Asia-buying-property.html?fb&fbclid=IwAR2mwBWKpDbKRWdBWJgz8SsqwT1bbXg9nL6MRUhtMKtNF5uSGEcr7BR4zKs)