UPDATED 4.57pm Auckland has gone from the world's fifth least affordable city to its fourth, now tailing only Hong Kong, Sydney and Vancouver as the least accessible housing market.

LISTEN ABOVE: Property Council chief executive Connal Townsend spoke to Larry Williams

The 13th annual Demographia International Housing Affordability Survey out today examined prices to incomes in 406 metropolitan housing markets and put Auckland near the top due to extremely expensive prices but moderate wages.

Auckland far outstripped London, which is 12th most expensive, and New York, which is 21st most expensive.

Auckland's median house price is $830,000 yet residents' median household income is $83,000 giving a multiple of 10, up on last year's 9.7 when house prices were only $748,700 and incomes were $77,500, Demographia says.

Wages have not risen much yet our house prices have spiralled, up 24 per cent in 2015 alone, according to the QV House Price Index.

Last year, Demographia found Auckland the world's fifth least affordable city. Melbourne was in fourth place but the Victorian city has now moved to sixth place, meaning affordability there has improved.

"Auckland, New Zealand's only major housing market, has a severely unaffordable 10 median multiple," Demographia said.

Since 2004, when the first survey was conducted, Auckland's unaffordability measure had nearly doubled, from a multiple of 5.9 to 10, it said.

People are demanding a change: "Public opinion placed the issue of housing affordability near the top of the policy agency," the report said.

Bill English believes people know what's been driving housing affordability in Auckland and the answer is getting more houses on the ground faster.

"We're headed in the right direction. I think the latest figures over 10,000 houses built in Auckland last year, 30,000 in the country. Because we've got a growing economy and a growing population we have to focus on getting more houses on the ground faster."

Labour leader Andrew Little said housing can only become more affordable by limiting property speculation and rapidly increasing housing stock.

He said the Government should follow previous governments in leading large house-building programmes.

Building and Housing Minister Nick Smith said the survey doesn't take into account New Zealand's low interest rates.

"When you have interest rates at the lowest level in 60 years, that will impact on those ratios," he said.

"The Government is making good progress in addressing excessive house-price inflation in Auckland, with the latest annual increase in single digits for the first time in five years and new housing investment up 32 per cent in the latest year and now topping more than 10,000 new Auckland homes per year.

"We are confident our comprehensive plan, which includes addressing issues like Auckland's planning rules, reforming the Resource Management Act, increasing land supply with Special Housing Areas, the Crown Land Programme and providing record levels of assistance for first-home buyers with the KiwiSaver HomeStart scheme, will achieve more affordable housing for cities like Auckland," Dr Smith said.