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Hong Kong has a gross disposable income of 327K HKD [1], equivalent to $41,792 USD. That's higher than every country in that list except the US. Needless to say
by pcwalton 7y ago
Hong Kong has a gross disposable income of 327K HKD [1], equivalent to $41,792 USD. That's higher than every country in that list except the US. Needless to say, Hong Kong houses—fewer than 500 sq ft on average—are nowhere near the size of American houses.
Canada is below France in that table, but Canada has large houses as well—2,200 sq ft, compared to below 1,500 sq ft for France.
[1]: https://www.statista.com/statistics/755874/hong-kong-disposable-income-per-capita/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/755874/hong-kong-disposa...
- dexterbt1 7y agoTo add, HK's land area is orders of magnitude smaller than the U.S. Maybe Americans can simply afford to build on far bigger land given their income.
- pcwalton 7y agoRight. I would guess the combination of available space and culture dominates income-related concerns. The places with big houses tend to be former British colonies that cover vast territories and feature an individualistic culture: Australia, Canada, and the US.
- dh5 7y agoHong Kong is also 1.5 times the size of NYC with about the same population. It's not quite comparable to other countries with a much lower population to area ratio.
- pcwalton 7y agoNevertheless, the average house size in New York City is 1,010 sq ft [1]. In this case, the cultural differences between Hong Kong and the US would seem to dominate. [1]: https://www.6sqft.com/in-new-york-city-how-much-space-is-too-little/ https://www.6sqft.com/in-new-york-city-how-much-space-is-too...