A TYPICAL home in Scotland has become less affordable in the past year as buyers face stretching their wages further to keep up with rising property prices, a report has found.
A house costs 5.24 times gross average annual earnings, up from 4.9 a year ago as the housing market recovery spread, the Bank of Scotland found.
But despite the increase, affordability is still below the peak of 2008 when an average property cost 6.12 times annual earnings and homes in Scotland are still more within reach than across the UK.
Stirling is the best value location in the UK, with a property there costing around 3.9 times gross average annual earnings. Glasgow is also one of the most affordable 15 locations, with properties priced at 4.1 times earnings.
But Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Inverness are among the most unaffordable. In the capital, the average property is £216,424, or 6.11 an average city dweller's gross income.
Aberdeen has recorded the biggest price rise of any UK city over the past decade, with prices increasing 88 per cent over the last 10 years to reach £219,177 because of rising housing demand due to the oil and gas sector.
Nitesh Patel, housing economist at Bank of Scotland, said: "Although we have seen a seven per cent decrease in home affordability in cities in Scotland, the average price for a city home is significantly below the peak of 2008 and is more affordable than the UK city average.
"As the UK's oil and gas capital, Aberdeen has recorded the biggest gains over the past decade while Stirling has retained the title of the UK's most affordable city for the second year in a row."
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