In the post-COVID era, the housing market has become a significant challenge for economies and citizens, with a new report summarizing the sentiment of many aspiring homebuyers by ranking major cities as "unaffordably out of reach."

The annual Demographic International Housing Affordability report, which has tracked housing prices for 20 years, compared median incomes with median house prices.

It found that the factors driving prices sky-high include the pandemic-driven demand for homes with outdoor spaces, land-use policies aimed at curbing urban sprawl, and investors flocking to the markets.

U.S. cities on the West Coast and Hawaii occupy five of the 10 spots for the most economically inaccessible cities.

Australia is the only country besides the U.S. dominating the list of "unaffordable" housing, with Sydney and the southern cities of Melbourne in Victoria and Adelaide in South Australia.

At the top of the global ranking is Hong Kong, the Asian financial hub known for its tiny apartments and astronomical rents.

Notably, it is the only Chinese market included in the report.

Hong Kong, a regular on the list of expensive cities, has the lowest homeownership rate among the surveyed cities, at just 51%, compared to its "rival," Singapore, where homeownership exceeds 89% due to decades of government commitment to public housing.

While Hong Kong is the least affordable city globally, prices dropped during the 2020 pandemic when the government closed the city's borders and imposed a zero-COVID policy under national security laws, affecting the city.

For those who can't wait for a policy change or a decrease in demand, the report also identifies the most affordable cities among the 94 surveyed worldwide.

These include Pittsburgh, Rochester, and St. Louis in the U.S.; Edmonton and Calgary in Canada; Blackpool, Lancashire, and Glasgow in the UK; and Perth and Brisbane in Australia.

Top 10 "Unaffordably Out of Reach" Cities

1. Hong Kong

2. Sydney

3. Vancouver

4. San Jose

5. Los Angeles

6. Honolulu

7. Melbourne

8. San Francisco/Adelaide

9. San Diego

10. Toronto