The “median multiple” is the number that the median income in an area is multiplied by in order to afford a home there.
According to the 11th Demographia International Housing Affordability Survey, the U.S. has a near monopoly on housing affordability compared to the other markets measured – Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Ireland, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, and the United Kingdom. Two-thirds of U.S. markets were affordable or moderately unaffordable, and all but four of the 27 most affordable cities were in the U.S., The Huffington Post reports.