I’ve lived in San Diego and thought finding housing there was hard but it’s a cakewalk compared to the hell that is finding an apartment in Amsterdam. I’ve considered leaving the city at times because finding somewhere decent here that’s also affordable seems close to impossible.
Sydney sucks. Expensive, short supply of properties that are either new but shitty quality or old but outdated and with completely inadequate insulation. Very hard to get a place if you have pets. Can get evicted for no reason and rent increases are at the discretion of the landlord.
Best: Dubai hands down.
The Bond is kept by the government and if the tenants objects it is cheap and easy to stop the landlord taking it. Truth is, many tenants leave places filthy and broken. You absolutely cannot be evicted for no reason, 60 days notice required to be given by landlord for no reason eviction. The vast majority of landlords only own 1 investment property. This is the best system of any country I have lived in.
It’s true that rent increases have gone crazy, but all the costs have gone up, mortgage, from 2% to 6% in a year, insurance due to fires and floods, and council rates, water has doubled in price. So the cost of the property has gone up even if you own it outright.
Gentrification has a lot to do with it, lodging/boarding houses are being chased out of existance by snobby new neighbours, student accommodations have become 1 family homes and AirBnB has distorted the market completely. I would love to see what would happen if AirBnB was banned.