Hong Kong homes are the least affordable among the world's major cities and are rapidly becoming less affordable - a fact buyers may find to their cost when interest rates rise.

This is shown by an international comparison conducted for South China Morning Post, and Hong Kong government figures.

A university professor specialising in real estate warned that a "short-term illusion" of affordability had been created by very low mortgage interest rates, which would evaporate when rates rose to a more realistic level - possibly as early as next year - pushing up mortgage payments.

The survey found Hong Kong people pay more than 10 times their annual income to buy a flat, the most of 272 metropolitan cities and earning it a "severely unaffordable" rating along with London, Sydney and New York.

South China Morning Post