WELLINGTON, Jan. 21 (Xinhua) -- The major housing markets of New Zealand, China and Australia are considered "severely unaffordable," according to an annual survey published on Monday.

The median house price in New Zealand are more than six times the median annual household income, according to the annual Demographia International Housing Affordability.

The study stipulates that homes more than three times a median annual household income is deemed "unaffordable" and homes more than five times household income is considered "severely unaffordable."

New Zealand's largest city Auckland was the seventh most unaffordable major city in the world, behind Hong Kong, Vancouver, Sydney, Melbourne, San Jose and Los Angeles, the survey showed.

The co-author of this survey, Wendell Cox, outlined in the introduction section of the survey that the principal reason for concern about housing affordability is its impact on the cost of living and therefore the standard of living.

Hugh Pavletich, another co-author, said housing has been a major issue over the past four elections, adding that the government aims to remove the Auckland urban growth boundary and free up density controls, which would give Auckland more options to grow, as well as stopping land bankers profiteering and holding up development.

New developments, both in Auckland and the rest of New Zealand, will be funded through innovative infrastructure bonds, Pavletich said.

The survey covers 293 metropolitan housing markets in nine countries including Australia, Canada, China, Ireland, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, Britain and the United States for the third quarter of 2017. Enditem

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