Most Affordable Housing

According to the Coldwell Banker Home Price Comparison Index. Quito leads the world in "affordable" housing with an average price of $96,000 USD. According to the report home prices in the nine major markets of Ecuador (including Guayaquil) average less than $200,000 USD.

By comparison, the most affordable EEUU market, Sioux City, Iowa had an average home price of $133, 459, while the most expensive market, La Jolla, California, had an average price of $1, 841,667.

But the most expensive housing market in the world, Dubai, UAE, can boast (or cringe) an average home price of $2.45 million USD.

The report is based on the average price of a single-family, 2,200 sq. ft. (205 sq. meters), 4 bedroom, 1 and a half bath home with a two-car garage in a neighborhood "within a market that is typical for corporate middle-management transferees."

While the report is primarily an indicator of the "affordability" of US homes, (a primary concern for many who are seeing their home values drop as a result of the US mortgage crisis) it raises, at least in my mind, more than a few questions about what "affordable housing" really means.