Malta’s property prices increased by 17% year-on-year when compared to the same period last year, making it the top country with the highest residential price gains.

The Knight Frank Global House Price Index used statistics from the Central Bank of Malta. It showed home prices in the country rose 17% between April and June compared to a year earlier.

Demand was pushed by a dearth of supply combined with an economy that grew 6.6% last year, according to the ranking.

“Supply constraints, combined with a robust economy and a buoyant technology industry is pushing up demand,” the Global House Price Index states.

Bloomberg highlighted the fact that Malta beat Hong Kong, which has led the index’s rankings on 10 occasions since 2009. Hong Kong is considered as the world’s least-affordable housing market.

The index notes that a number of countries experiencing annual house price growth is on the rise even as the average rate of growth moderates.

Latvia, Slovenia and Hungary aso registered double-digit price growth.

Only seven countries and territories (12% of those monitored) registered a decline in prices in annual terms and no market has recorded a double-digit decline in house prices over the last six quarters.