KUALA LUMPUR, June 21 — A recent study has revealed that rent in Kuala Lumpur is the cheapest among the top 30 cities in the world dubbed the “best” to work and live in by audit giant PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).
According to rental search company RENTCafé, Kuala Lumpur’s placement as the most affordable place to rent among the 30 cities was also a massive jump from its 20th place in the previous ranking.
“Kuala Lumpur takes the crown as the most affordable city for renters, with only 20 per cent of its dwellers’ income spent on renting an apartment.
“Other cities in Asia that come close are Beijing on the 7th place (27 per cent) and Shanghai at number eight (28 per cent),” RENTCafé said in a statement.
According to its study, the median household income a year in KL is US$22,400 (RM96,152) while the average annual rent is US$4,500 (RM19,316), resulting in a rent-to-income ratio of 20 per cent.
The study had obtained data for the household income from the Department of Statistics Malaysia, and rent data from online marketplace mudah.my.
Among PwC’s Cities of Opportunities list, KL was ranked 20th among the 30 cities.
In comparison, neighbouring Singapore was ranked second in PwC’s list, but ranked 25th when it comes to rental affordability, with nearly half of the residents’ income spent on rental.
“On the other end of the spectrum, Mexico City stands out as the most rent-burdened of these great cities of opportunity, with a staggering 60 per cent of its income shelled out for rent, followed closely by Manhattan (59 per cent) and Lagos (57 per cent).
“Despite boasting the largest income on our list, Singapore also registers a moderate rent burden of 44 per cent,” it said.
The company categorises cities with more than 30 per cent ratio as “rent-burdened”.
Other countries in the top five most affordable to rent among the desirable cities were Moscow in Russia, Johannesburg in South Africa, Bogota in Colombia, and Rio de Janeiro in Brazil.
