HOUSE price growth in Scotland's capital has outstripped that of other cities during the last 12 months as recovery in the property market takes hold.

New figures have revealed that the average price of property in Edinburgh has risen by the highest percentage since September last year out of Scotland's major cities, including Aberdeen.

However, the UK's brightest property hotspots are still to be found in the south of England and around London, where prices have gone up by more than three times the national average in the last 12 months.

An annual survey of the property market launched yesterday by market analysts Hometrack placed Scottish cities towards the bottom half of a league table of the best-performing areas.

The Hometrack UK Cities House Price index showed that prices have risen by £10,900 (6.1 per cent) in Edinburgh, followed by £9,500 (5.3 per cent) in Aberdeen and £4,600 (4.3 per cent) in Glasgow.

At the same time, house prices in London and Cambridge have risen by more than £60,000 (18 per cent) and £53,000 (17 per cent) respectively, while increasing by £13,200 (eight per cent) in Cardiff.

The annual rate of UK house price growth was nine per cent in September, up just 0.1 per cent from August. Eight cities in England are above their 2007 peak.

Richard Donnell, research director, Hometrack, said: "Local economies drive their local housing markets. Cities are the focus for employment and business growth, which in turn creates demand for housing.

"By focusing on cities, we can get a more accurate picture of the health of the housing market. Expectations that strong house price growth in the south of England would ripple out across the country were over-done.

"While house price growth has increased across all cities in the last year the rate of growth in the majority of cities is below the UK average. There is little evidence of a runaway surge in prices and the rate of growth appears to be moderating."

He added: "On a national level, the overall rate of UK house price growth has been significantly enhanced by London."

However Simon Rettie, Managing Director of the Edinburgh estate agents Rettie & Co, said: "I would be surprised if Edinburgh had outpaced Aberdeen, as our own figures tend to show that that's where the strongest growth has been."