KATHMANDU, Nov 28: Owning a home in Nepal is slipping further out of reach for many, with new data showing that an average Nepali now needs the equivalent of 36 years of income to buy fixed property—one of the highest ratios in the world.
According to Numbeo, a global crowdsourced database on living costs and quality of life, Nepal ranks third-highest in the property price–to–income ratio for mid-2025. The ratio has reached 36.32, up from 33.28 last year, when Nepal stood in sixth position. Nepal’s purchasing power index also remains low at 27.32, signalling limited financial capacity among consumers.
Numbeo’s latest Property Prices Index shows that urban homes now average around Rs 20 million, while prices in semi-urban and rural areas hover around Rs 15 million. Mortgage borrowers, meanwhile, face an annual interest rate averaging 11.21 percent.
Nepalis spending 13% of daily income for a food-plate
In Kathmandu, the numbers tell an even starker story: an individual would need 29.42 times their annual income to afford property in the Valley, where a one-bedroom apartment in the city centre rents for about Rs 24,000 a month.
Researchers say such soaring property prices are fuelled not by rising productivity but by a lack of investment culture in other sectors, prompting households to funnel savings into land and housing. Easy bank credit and expectations of quick returns have intensified real estate activity, leading to rapid land fragmentation into smaller, more saleable plots.
Government policies have also shaped the market. Revenue from land registration and capital gains taxes remains a major source of government income, while weak regulation has allowed speculative behaviour to flourish.
Although Nepal Rastra Bank has tightened lending and the government has imposed stricter rules on land fragmentation and licensing, prices have not fallen in any significant way. The sector is also under scrutiny for allegedly serving as a safe haven for illicit money, prompting the government to require both buyers and sellers to submit bank statements in property transactions.
Despite the overall trend, Bishnu Prasad Ghimire, president of the Nepal Land and Housing Developers Federation, insists the market is cooling. “Price pressure in the Kathmandu Valley has eased to some extent,” he told Republica.
Yet for most Nepalis, homeownership remains a distant dream—one increasingly defined by decades of income, tightening regulations, and an economy where real estate continues to overshadow other avenues of investment.
