全世界住房租金負擔最重的城市，既不是倫敦，也不是紐約，甚至不是世界最昂貴房地產市場香港。

全球租金負擔最重的城市是北京，其租金成本達到了平均工資的123%。這里還有霧霾。據英國非盈利機構全球城市商業聯盟（Global Cities Business Alliance）統計，雖然北京名義上的平均月租金為789美元，但普通工人根本負擔不起標準的住房，因為租金已經超出了他們的工資。

緊隨其后的城市是阿布扎比和香港，分別名列第二和第三位，租金占收入的比例分別為70%和64%。該組織對15個大城市的租金和收入數據進行了分析。

全球城市商業聯盟的CEO萊斯利?薩維爾在一份聲明中表示：“北京等大城市，是其自身成功的受害者：快速發展吸引了工作人口，但現在它們需要提供足夠的住房，使這些人可以享受在大城市的生活。北京正在努力解決這個問題，推出了一系列措施，如修建新地鐵以增加有效住房供給，以及直接資助房地產開發等，可以有所幫助。”

相比之下，以高房價聞名的紐約和舊金山的租金，平均分別占到收入的63%與51%。

不斷上漲的住房成本，迫使北京越來越多的工作人口遷往周邊地區。據該組織統計，北京工作人口平均往返通勤時間為104分鐘，在通勤時間最長的城市統計中，北京僅次于墨西哥城位居第二位。墨西哥城的員工通勤時間為113分鐘。

不過，有些北京居民則通過非傳統的方式，來應對激增的住房成本。據路透社報道，有的人選擇在公寓大樓沒有窗戶的小型地下室里居住，甚至曾有人居住在下水道里。

這種情況并非無端產生的。在截至3月份的12個月內，北京房價上漲了18%。然而北京的高租房成本，還有其他負面影響。消費者將多數收入用于支付租金，意味著他們用于其他商品和服務消費的收入將減少，對于正在努力刺激增長和向消費者經濟轉型的中國來說，這并非好消息。（財富中文網）

譯者：劉進龍/汪皓

It’s not London, New York, or even the reigning champion over the world’s most expensive housing market, Hong Kong.

No—the city with the least affordable rent is Beijing, where rent costs eats up roughly 123% the average salary. Smog included. Although Beijing’s nominal monthly rent is $789 on average, the ordinary worker cannot afford to live in typical housing alone, according to the study from U.K.-based nonprofit organization, Global Cities Business Alliance, since rent costs exceed their salary.

The second and third most expensive cities to live in are Abu Dhabi and Hong Kong, where rent is 70% and 64% of earnings respectively. The organizationanalyzed rent and income data from 15 major cities.

“Big cities like Beijing are victims of their own success: Rapid growth has magnetized workers, but they now need to deliver enough houses so that workers enjoy living there,” said Lesley Saville, CEO of the Global Cities Business Alliance in a statement. “Beijing is trying to address the problem with measures such as building new underground lines to unlock housing and by directly funding development, which will help.”

In comparison, rent in New York and San Francisco, two cities known for high housing prices, average around 63% or 51% of earnings respectively.

The rising housing costs have pushed workers in Beijing further into surrounding areas. According to the Alliance, the average Beijing worker commutes 104 minutes, round trip, for their job—making it the city with the second longest commute time behind Mexico City, where employees travel 113 minutes, in the world.

But some citizens have taken less conventional ways to deal with surging housing costs in Beijing. Some have started living in the small windowless basements of apartment buildings, or in one case, the sewers, Reuters reported.

And it’s not unwarranted. Housing prices have risen 18% in the 12 months ending March. But there are other problematic implications to the high cost of rent in Beijing. While consumers are spending the majority of their paychecks on rent, they also have far less money to spend on other goods and services, which can’t be good for a country trying to stimulate growth and transition to a consumer-based economy.