Unfortunately there's a really high risk of issues like Simpson's paradox when you average together distinct populations like this, meaning the combined statist

Unfortunately there's a really high risk of issues like Simpson's paradox when you average together distinct populations like this, meaning the combined statistic/insight could actually be showing the opposite of the experience you're likely to experience within each region. No home buyer isn't part of a region. Given that where you buy a home and where you live are very highly correlated, it's hard to tell if this is over or under stating the actual average experience. Your actual experience of housing affordability is regional not global. In this case my hypothesis is that this number is actually an underestimate of how unaffordable housing is, though for all we know it could be that some significant regions like rural regions are more affordable. There's no way to tell from this number alone.