Comment by AnthonyMouse

The price to income ratio is influenced more by income than housing prices, because housing prices have a floor in terms of construction materials costs, and then countries in deep poverty are going to have a grisly ratio. For example, Cuba has some of the lowest housing costs in the world, but it's #4 on the list for worst price to income ratio. Nigeria is at #1 because their median income is $825/year rather than because they inhibit housing construction.

The issue is, why does it cost several times as much to add a housing unit in the US as it does in Mexico? That can't be explained by the cost of lumber or copper since they're tradable commodities and if it was labor then prefabricated components should be driving down the price unless it's some kind of a racket. Which implies that it's mainly rackets and zoning restrictions.