Most affordable homes located in U.S. and Canada, according to worldwide housing survey

Movers that continue to be skeptical of the U.S. housing market's affordability may finally be convinced after the latest worldwide survey.

Billed as the "gold standard" in determining the affordability of worldwide housing markets, the Demographia International Housing Affordability Survey annually assesses home prices of urban markets around the world. And this year, their results indicated movers would be wise to restrict their relocation destinations to domestic locales, as all of the markets considered affordable were restricted to Canada and the United States.

According to the survey, Atlanta was the most affordable urban market both in the United States and the world. Other major markets considered affordable included Indianapolis, Rochester, New York and Cincinnati.

The priciest U.S. urban markets were San Francisco, San Diego, San Jose and New York City.

Markets were considered "affordable" if the area's housing prices didn't exceed the gross median household income more than three times over.

The most unaffordable city in the world, according to the survey, is Hong Kong.

Prices in the U.S. housing market have gone down precipitously in recent months due primarily to their declining values. Last month, ZipRealty found the number of homes dropping their initial price increased by 23 percent compared to December 2009.