Australian homes are among the most expensive in the world when household incomes and rents are taken into account, International Monetary Fund figures show.

As part of a move to push governments to act against housing bubbles, the fund unveiled comparative data on Thursday morning intended to underline the high cost of homes.

Australia is among a handful of countries where price-to-income and price-to-rent ratios were ''well above'' their historical averages. Credit:Rob Homer

It shows rising prices have pushed two key measures of home values - the ratios of house prices to incomes and prices to rents - well above their long-term averages.

With houses selling for more than four times the average household income, the IMF said this ratio in Australia was much higher than its historical average.