The most expensive and cheapest areas to buy a first home in Scotland have been named in a brand new study.
Scotland's housing market is as hot as ever as demand soars with the eye-watering prices to match.
First-time buyers are facing an ultra-competitive market and paying wild sums to score the keys to their dream home.
That said, prices do vary and a full list of the most affordable places for first-time buyers has been compiled by Nationwide Building Society.
In a UK-wide ranking of least affordable local authorities, Edinburgh came in at number 10. Meanwhile, East Ayrshire was found to be the most affordable place to get on the property ladder across the UK.
The ranking relied on data from the Office of National Statistics, the Land Registry and the UK House Price Index from June 2021.
The average house price in Scotland increased to £183,000 in 2021 - a jump of 11.4 percent to the year before, according to the newly updated UK House Price Index.
Kensington and Chelsea in London is the most expensive place in the UK as prices are 14.7 times average earnings.
In Edinburgh, first-time buyers are paying £240,504 on average - almost six times their earnings.
Of course, affordability varies as some areas in Scotland won't demand quite as large a dent in your savings.
Nationwide found 16 percent of local authorities have become more affordable since 2016.
East Ayrshire was revealed to be the UK's most affordable local authority where property prices for first-time buyers are just 2.4 times average earnings.
Aberdeen has seen the greatest improvement in affordability due to a 22 percent fall in prices from 2016 to 2021.
The ranking listed areas by a measurement dubbed the first-time buyer house price to earnings ratio (HPER).
Read on for the full list of affordable areas for first-time buyers in Scotland.
Full list of cheapest and expensive places to buy first house in Scotland
Local authorities listed with average price for first-time buyers with data from Nationwide Building Society
City of Edinburgh- £240,504
East Lothian - £199,669
Midlothian- £174,638
Perth and Kinross- £156,469
Scottish Borders- £137,843
Orkney Islands- £146,454
Shetland Islands- £162,618
West Lothian- £146,817
Highland- £146,974
Argyll and Bute- £121,739
Aberdeenshire- £147,334
East Dunbartonshire - £172,950
Stirling - £161,070
City of Glasgow - £138,294
Dumfries and Galloway - £121,441
Moray - £135,316
Dundee City - £117,315
East Renfrewshire - £184,558
Angus - £122,437
Falkirk - £117,048
Aberdeen City - £120,859
Fife- £119,912
South Ayrshire - £114,936
Clackmannanshire - £111,295
Renfrewshire - £114,246
South Lanarkshire - £113,223
Eilean Siar - £110,530
North Lanarkshire - £100,800
West Dunbartonshire - £106,152
Inverclyde - £92,517
North Ayrshire - £91,096
East Ayrshire - £83,255
