Colombo has been ranked the most unaffordable city in the world for buying property, according to the latest Property Prices Index from Numbeo, the world’s largest cost-of-living database.
The data show that the price-to-income ratio in Colombo is 55.3, meaning the average property costs more than 55 times the average annual income.
By comparison, the gross rental yield—the annual rental income as a percentage of property price—is just 3% in the city center and 3.8% outside the center, making property investment less profitable.
Furthermore, the mortgage burden for the average resident is staggering, with mortgage payments equivalent to 774% of annual income. The city’s affordability index stands at 0.1, underscoring the extreme difficulty for locals to purchase property.
The ranking places Colombo ahead of other Asian cities known for high property prices, including Kathmandu (Nepal), Manila (Philippines), Xiamen (China), Taipei (Taiwan), Shanghai (China), Hong Kong (China), Beijing (China), Phnom Penh (Cambodia) and Mumbai (India).
