With rapid economic development in many parts of Asia, urbanisation has been a strong theme in the region. By 2050, two-thirds of the Asia Pacific population is expected to live in cities, up from 43 percent in 2010. With this in mind, there are potential long-term strategic market exposure and impact decisions for investors in the region to consider.

Using data from a June 2016 MSCI ESG Research publication, The Crisis of Affordability in Real Estate, this article examines the affordability of residential real estate for 36 cities in the Asia Pacific region and explores the potential market size of affordable real estate in each of these cities. This analysis is supplemented with data on the current institutional investment landscape in the region. All results are as at 31 December 2015, unless otherwise stated.

Defining affordability

Despite media attention on ever-rising housing costs, policy makers, academics and investors lack a co