Scotland’s cheapest and most expensive areas to buy house named — see full list

The cheapest and most expensive areas of Scotland to buy a home over the past year have been revealed.

On Tuesday, Registers of Scotland published its yearly property market report. Covering 20 years of trends in residential and non-residential property sales from 2003-04 to 2023-24, the report by the non-ministerial department of the Scottish Government shows the median price of residential properties across all of Scotland’s 32 council areas in the last 12 months.

According to the research, East Lothian had the highest median price of all local authorities over the last 12 months, at £283,227. This marks an increase of three per cent when compared to the year before, and 183 per cent since 2003.

East Renfrewshire follows behind in second, where the median residential property price was found to be £280,000. The council area has seen its residential properties fall by one per cent in value compared with the previous year, though prices have risen by 127 per cent since 2003.

In third place, and the most expensive Scottish city on the list, is Edinburgh with a median residential property price of £270,000 over the past year. The property market report states that the median price of a home in the Scottish capital has remained unchanged since last year, though it has increased by 116 per cent over the past 20 years.

Rounding out the top five areas with the highest median residential property prices between 2023 and 2024 are East Dunbartonshire and Midlothian, with figures of £260,000 and £255,000 respectively. The former has seen a median price rise of 143 per cent since 2003, while the latter has increased by a staggering 200 per cent.

On the other hand, Inverclyde was found to have the lowest median house price between 2023 and 2024, at £107,108. The cost of residential properties in the region has risen by 13 per cent over the last year, and 95 per cent across the past 20 years.

The area of Scotland with the second-lowest median residential property price over the past year is East Ayrshire, at £117,000. According to the report, properties here have fallen in value by three per cent compared with the previous year, though have risen by 148 per cent since 2003.

West Dunbartonshire is the Scottish local authority with the third-lowest median residential property price, where it is £121,000 according to Registers of Scotland. Here, residential property prices have increased by three per cent since the previous year and 120 per cent since 2003.

Elsewhere, completing the top five cheapest areas in Scotland for residential properties are North Ayrshire and North Lanarkshire. With median residential property prices of £122,998 and £135,000, costs have fallen by two per cent in the former since the previous year, while remaining unchanged in North Lanarkshire.

More information about the property market report 2023-24 can be found on the Registers of Scotland website.

Median residential property price in Scottish local authorities between 2023 and 2024

1. East Lothian — £283,227
2. East Renfrewshire — £280,000
3. City of Edinburgh — £270,000
4. East Dunbartonshire — £260,000
5. Midlothian — £255,000
6. Perth and Kinross — £220,000
7. Aberdeenshire — £205,000
8. Highland — £205,000
9. Stirling — £205,000
10. West Lothian — £200,000
11. Moray — £188,250
12. Orkney Islands — £185,000
13. Shetland Islands — £182,750
14. Glasgow City — £175,500
15. Angus — £175,000
16. Argyll and Bute — £175,000
17. Scottish Borders — £172,500
18. Fife — £168,000
19. South Ayrshire — £165,000
20. South Lanarkshire — £161,500
21. Na h-Eileanan Siar — £156,250
22. Dumfries and Galloway — £155,000
23. Falkirk — £153,507
24. Renfrewshire — £145,000
25. Aberdeen City — £140,000
26. Clackmannanshire — £140,000
27. Dundee City — £135,000
28. North Lanarkshire — £135,000
29. North Ayrshire — £122,998
30. West Dunbartonshire — £121,000
31. East Ayrshire — £117,000
32. Inverclyde — £107,108

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