The budding new financial district in Doha, Qatar, in 2011. The Gulf state is one of the richest countries in the world - and the only place in a survey of more than 60 countries with faster rising house prices than New Zealand.

Only one country in a worldwide survey saw house prices rise faster than New Zealand in 2015.

And no country could top New Zealand for house price jumps relative to income.

The figures, published by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), looked at the annual percentage change in real house prices and covered more than 60 countries.

New Zealand's house price hikes (14.6 per cent) topped countries like Austria (3 per cent), Germany (4.2 per cent), the United States (5.9 per cent), Australia (9 per cent) and several other developed countries.

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HANNAH PETERS/GETTY IMAGES The ballooning housing market is worst in Auckland and Queenstown.

Only Qatar (15.5 per cent) outstripped New Zealand in the data.

On the price-to-income ratio measure, New Zealand headed off 30 other countries in an index which compared the situation in 2015 with 2010.

New Zealand's 123.9 index score topped Australia (109.1), Japan (103.7) and the US (103). The index charts the relationship between middle (median) incomes and median house prices.

Since 2007, ownership rates have declined for almost everyone except those at the top earning more per household than $175,000 per year.

WHAT'S AFFORDABLE?

The accepted standard for housing affordability is three times the median household income, which equates to a house price of about $230,000.

Photographer: Joseph Kelly suppl Economist Shamubeel Eaqub says New Zealand faces a class split if the housing environment doesn't change.

The median house price in New Zealand was $490,000 in April, a multiple of more than five.

In the most expensive parts of the country such as Auckland's North Shore and Queenstown-Lakes, the mid-price property is 10 or 11 times more than the median income.

By this measure, there are affordable areas too, such as Invercargill, the Wairarapa and Wanganui.

AUCKLAND THE PROBLEM

New Zealand Council of Trade Unions economist and director of policy Bill Rosenberg said New Zealand was an attractive country in which to settle and invest. Longstanding Auckland housing market constraints were at the centre of the housing market.

"Queenstown is another and it's spreading out into most of the country, particularly around the Auckland region. One of the problems in Auckland is there has been a policy to make it a supercity, whatever that means.

"If you're going to focus so much of your economic development on one area you simply cannot do that without having a plan to provide the infrastructure, which needs to come first.

"Inevitably you get these kinds of blowouts in terms of needs."

People needed homes and there was no reason the Government could not take on more responsibility, he said.

"As soon as you get into housing there's no one simple answer.

"The economy is saying keep on reducing interest rates ... but if it does that it could contribute to further inflation of the housing bubble.

"We also need to have a good look at the attractiveness to renting as an alternative to buying a house."

'IT'S INCREASINGLY HOPELESS'

Economist Shamubeel Eaqub said house prices in New Zealand had increased relative to income since the 1990s.

"Home ownership has been falling since '91. It's reducing affordability and has been pushing more and more people into renting," Eaqub said.

"The pace of growth is just so far from income and savings it can't keep up for new entrants. For first-time buyers it's increasingly hopeless.

"Houses in most parts of New Zealand are relatively affordable but the job options are in Auckland.

"More and more money is driven into buying housing from each other rather than building new housing. If there were plenty of new houses there would not be demand for investment."

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