Hyderabad has become the second most expensive housing market in the country after Mumbai, as per Knight Frank India’s proprietary affordability index. The development comes in the backdrop of developers raising real estate prices over the last two years and banks charging higher home loan interest rates. As per the index, households in Hyderabad have to spend 31 percent of their income to fund the Equated Monthly Instalment (EMI) on their housing loan. The EMI to income ratio has gone up by 1 percent in 2023, up from 30 percent in 2022. According to the Knight Frank India index data, the EMI to income ratio in Hyderabad in 2010 stood at 47 percent while in 2019, the number plummeted to 34 percent. In 2020, the number further decreased to 31 percent and in 2021, it further declined to 28 percent. In 2022, the ratio was at 30 percent and in H1 2023, it again rose to 31 percent. Amongst the top eight cities, Ahmedabad is the most affordable housing market with an EMI to income ratio of 23 percent, followed by Pune and Kolkata at 26 percent each. The index indicates the income proportion that a household needs to fund the monthly EMI of a housing unit in a city. The index level of 40 percent indicates that on an average, households in that particular city need to spend 40 percent of their income to service the housing loan. Also read: Relief for HMDA, Telangana High Court refuses to stay Budvel land auction