India's Middle Class Priced Out: Mumbai Homes Cost 34 Years Of Salary And Rising

Mumbai's housing market has reached crisis levels, with average home prices now 34 times the annual income, more unaffordable than New York, London, or even Hong Kong.

Sandeep Kulkarni, CEO of Aksha Moneyworks4u, laid out the staggering reality on LinkedIn: when he bought his first 2BHK in 2007 at age 27, he paid 3.5 times his annual income. Today, that ratio in Mumbai is a jaw-dropping 34x.

Globally, a House Price-to-Income (HPI) ratio of 3x to 6x is considered healthy. Anything above 10x is typically flagged as a warning sign of deep affordability stress. By that benchmark, Indian metros have broken the system.

Current HPI ratios, according to Kulkarni:

• Mumbai: 34x
• Bengaluru: 22x
• NCR (Delhi): 20x
• Pune: 18x

Compare that with:

• Hong Kong: 21x
• London: 13x
• Singapore: 11x
• New York: 9x

The result: a generational shift in who can afford to buy homes and where.

“When Mumbai is nearly 4x more expensive relative to income than New York, something has to give,” Kulkarni wrote. “The middle class is being priced out of their own cities.”

The effects are visible. Young professionals are pushed to satellite towns or burdened with brutal commutes. Others are choosing permanent rentals. Many simply delay or abandon the dream of homeownership altogether.

The driver? A mix of speculative real estate pricing, slow wage growth, limited housing supply in central areas, and ultra-high stamp duties. While developers have pushed luxury towers, affordable housing has failed to keep up with demand in high-opportunity zones.

Meanwhile, inflation-adjusted income levels haven't kept pace. The result is a market that's now structurally skewed toward investors, NRIs, and high-net-worth buyers, leaving urban middle-class Indians to fend for scraps.

Some financial advisors are even suggesting clients skip buying altogether. With rental yields in cities like Mumbai hovering around 2–3%, many argue it makes more financial sense to invest elsewhere and rent instead.

But this imbalance has long-term risks. Cities without accessible housing for working professionals suffer in productivity, social cohesion, and economic dynamism. The numbers are stark. The affordability gap is growing. And unless housing prices correct or incomes surge, India's urban homeownership dream might remain just that: a dream.