20 of 21 nations face housing cost-to-income ratios over 33%, driving PropTech innovation

A stark new report from the World Economic Forum and Marsh McLennan warns that housing unaffordability will persist as a defining economic and health challenge through 2040, eroding wealth accumulation and shortening lifespans across generations. The analysis, covering 21 economies, reveals a deeply entrenched crisis: in 20 of those countries, monthly mortgage or rental costs already exceed the 33% of income threshold conventionally considered affordable. For seven nations—Nigeria, Colombia, India, Indonesia, Vietnam, Brazil, and Mexico—the burden is catastrophic, with housing payments consuming more than 100% of an individual's average monthly earnings. Even where home prices have fallen relative to wages, such as the more than 15% drops recorded over the past decade in Brazil, India, and Indonesia, affordability has not meaningfully improved, underscoring the structural nature of the problem rather than a mere price bubble. The demographic outlook amplifies the strain. Between 2025 and 2040, high-growth economies are projected to experience a more rapid increase in their older adult populations than nations that are already aging, placing a dual burden on younger workers who must simultaneously pay for housing, save for their own lengthening retirements, and potentially support multiple older generations. The WEF report frames this as a vicious cycle: expensive housing forces people into lower-quality, cramped, or isolated dwellings far from jobs and services, which in turn leads to financial stress, higher medical expenses, and diminished long-term savings. The health consequences are not incidental—they are central to the report's thesis that housing is a determinant of longevity. The behavioral dimension is equally alarming: with wealth accumulation blocked by shelter costs, younger adults are delaying family formation, forgoing investments, and becoming increasingly dependent on debt, while older adults face the erosion of their primary asset—their home—just when they may need to draw on it for retirement income or long-term care. The report points to emerging 'lifelong living' models in Spain, the United Kingdom, and Hong Kong as early signals of how policy and innovation can put quality, community, and affordability at the core of housing provision. These examples, while small-scale, demonstrate that intergenerational collaboration and multi-stakeholder partnerships—involving governments, developers, insurers, and technology firms—can begin to rewire the housing ecosystem. For the financial sector, the implications are vast: mortgage markets face heightened long-term delinquency risk, insurers must price in housing-related health costs, and pension systems will be strained as fewer workers build adequate nest eggs. The report calls for a coordinated response that goes beyond simply building more units, advocating for regulatory reform, innovative financing instruments, and a reimagining of what 'home' means across the life course. Without such systemic change, the affordability gap will not only persist but deepen, transforming housing from a wealth-building asset into a wealth-destroying liability that threatens global financial stability and public health outcomes simultaneously.