As Hong Kong’s economy shrinks slightly, the rich are protected by rising asset prices while the less fortunate are finding it more and more difficult to afford housing.
Bloomberg reports that stock and home prices have more than doubled since 2008 to record-breaking highs, while the median household income rose by 25 percent, only 4 percentage points above the rate of inflation in the same period.
While the richest people in Hong Kong reap the rewards of rising asset prices, one in five Hongkongers live in poverty in a city that has the world’s most unaffordable housing market. In 2013, the median home price was 14.9 times higher than the median household income—the highest ratio in the world, according to Demographia, a consulting agency.
And we’re all already sick of hearing how Hong Kong has the most multimillionaires in the world, or how 1 in 38 Hongkongers are millionaires.
“The widening wealth gap is making it harder for people from different walks of life to live in Hong Kong,” said Marcella Chow, an economist for the Bank of America Corp. in Hong Kong, to Bloomberg. “People cannot actually afford to buy property even if they want to.”
Sigh. Tell us about it.
Photo: Haydn Hsin via Wikimedia
