Auld Reekie retains its title as the most expensive property market in Scotland as house prices rise nationwide.

Research from the Bank of Scotland shows that the average cost per-square-meter of Edinburgh homes is £2,669, a figure that stands well ahead of:

• Linlithgow in West Lothian at £2,076;
• Stonehaven in Aberdeenshire at £2,039; and,
• Grangemouth being the cheapest, costing a relatively low £1,016.

This comes as Scotland's house prices per-square-meter record a 20 per cent increase in the past five years, from £1,320 in 2013 to £1,579 in 2018.

Mortgages director at the Bank of Scotland, Graham Blair, noted that the oft-used per-square-meter metric is useful as an indicator of the differing sizes and types of property across various areas, pointing to the contrast between different regions.

Blair said ‘‘Towns in the East and the North are more expensive than West and Central areas. However, several towns in the West have seen significant increases in the last five years.

‘’Despite this, a clear gap has formed between England - particularly London - and Scotland, Ireland and Wales over the last 20 years.’’

Though Edinburgh’s lead price-wise is well-established, the situation in Scotland pales in comparison to the south of the border. Lambeth, which ranks in the top 10 most expensive towns in England, boasts a per-square-meter price difference of £5,465 with the least expensive town, Nelson. Meanwhile, a similar comparison of Broxburn in West Lothian and Grangemouth shows a comparatively smaller £653 per-square-meter difference.

Grangemouth’s neighbours share its low prices; eight of the ten towns that have the lowest prices per-square-meter in the country are either in Central or Western Scotland. After Grangemouth comes Bellshill at £1,030, followed by Irvine at £1,090, Larkhall at £1,163, Wishaw at £1,159 and Coatbridge at £1,147, with these places alone all being found in Central Scotland.

This research also revealed that the nationwide average per-square-meter price increased by 148% over the last two decades, with a leap to £1,579 all the way from £637 in 1998. However, even this figure stands as the lowest increase in Britain compared to Wales increasing by 180% as well as Greater London hiking up by 301%, with the average across Britain being 215%.

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