BOURNEMOUTH has joined the ranks of Hong Kong, Sydney and San Francisco as one of the least affordable places to live.

According to an annual survey by Demographia the price of a home in Bournemouth is 8.9 times higher than the median annual household income of the area.

This makes the town the tenth least affordable place for housing in the world - coming in just behind San Francisco in California.

It is the only UK town or city to make it into the top 10 - just beating London where house prices are 8.5 times higher than the average household income.

Hong Kong has topped the list for the past seven years - but this is the first time Bournemouth has appeared.

It follows a report from the property analyst Hometrack which shows that Bournemouth has seen one of the highest rise in property prices in 2016.

According to the figures the price of a home in the town grew by 5.7 per cent last year to £272,100 - placing it 11th on the list of UK cities and towns.

The house price growth in the town is above the national average, according to the report, with prices up by 42 per cent since 2010 and 16 per cent higher than the last market peak a decade ago.

The Bournemouth Churches Housing Association (BCHA) has called for more homes to be built in the area in an attempt to fend off an impending “housing crisis”.

A spokesman for BCHA said: “While surveys like this suggest that Bournemouth is a very affluent area, the difference between the average worker’s pay and the cost of the average home in the area is in fact exceedingly disproportionate, creating a housing crisis which has also been exacerbated by number of second homes in the region.

“This is having a devastating impact on people trying to get on the property ladder, especially young families.

“And because there is still a vast shortage of housing, prices will continue to rise. Therefore it is vital to build more homes and increase supply significantly, so that prices begin to fall as demand and supply begin to equal out.”

Despite Bournemouth being marked as one of the least affordable places to live the UK was named as the third most affordable nation - behind the USA and Japan.

And the least expensive places to live in the world was the city of Racine in Wisconsin, America.