The global housing market is starting to creak: according to a new report by Endeavour Equities, published in October 2025, the gap between housing prices and median income in many countries has reached an all-time high. The report examined real estate markets in the United States, Canada, New Zealand, and Australia-and found that in the latter three, buying a home has become an almost impossible task.
In the U.S., the house-to-income ratio remains at challenging but manageable levels, whereas in Canada, New Zealand, and Australia, prices have long crossed the line of economic reason. Endeavour Equities describes the phenomenon as a “global loss of housing affordability” and warns of the development of a worldwide real estate bubble.
According to the report, contributing factors include a persistent shortage of available land, sharp interest rate hikes, speculative investments by institutional investors, and a general slowdown in the labor market that reduces household purchasing power.
How Many Years Do You Work for a Home?
The most striking figure in the report is the house-to-income ratio, which measures how many years of salary are required to buy a median home. In the United States, the ratio currently stands at 4.8-challenging but manageable.
In Canada, it jumped to 6, in New Zealand it rises to 7.7, and in Australia it has soared to 9.7-a level defined by researchers as “Impossibly Unaffordable.”
For illustration: an American family with a median annual income of $60,000 can buy a median home for about $288,000. In Australia, that same income would cover only slightly more than a tenth of an average home’s price.
The report provides examples of dramatic price drops in various countries. In Ontario, Canada, for example, a home purchased in 2022 for $1.75 million sold this year for only $670,000-a decline of more than $1M in three years. In Australia, where the market is still functioning, economists warn that any change in interest rates or taxation could trigger a domino effect of price declines.
And What About Israel?
Although Israel was not examined in the Endeavour Equities report, a comparison with CBS (Central Bureau of Statistics) data shows that the ratio between the average home price and annual income in Israel currently stands at 12–13-higher than Australia, New Zealand, and Canada combined. In other words, an average family in Israel must work for more than a decade to buy an average home-even before interest payments, taxes, and living costs.
Moreover, alongside data showing significant price drops in these countries, in Israel, despite the interest rate hikes and reduced transaction volume, prices have remained almost unchanged-a phenomenon indicating a saturated demand market but also a risk of a later crash.
The conclusion of the report is clear: over the last decade, housing has shifted from a relatively stable investment to a speculative financial product, with researchers warning that the global real estate bubble is building pressure and, without deep structural change, could burst soon.