Glasgow and Aberdeen are among the six Scottish areas to be named the most affordable in the UK, according to a new study.
Halifax measured the affordability of each town and city across the UK by noting the price-to-earnings ratio, the average house price and average annual earnings.
The banking firm found that Stirling was the most affordable place in Scotland, with the average price of buying property at around £208,000 while average earnings stood just over £38,000 a year.
The Scots town was followed by Aberdeen, Glasgow, Perth, Inverness and then Dundee.
Halifax discovered that the price of buying a home in the UK surged by 10.3 per cent over the past year in lockdown. This means that property now costs a staggering 8.1 times average earnings.
In the study by Halifax it was revealed the average city house price had increased to £287,440.
Meanwhile average earnings in those locations had only increased by 2.1 per cent annually, to £35,677.
The affordability of city living is worse than in 2020 when house prices in cities typically had cost around seven and-a-half times wages.
After staying at 5.6 from 2011 to 2013, the house price-to-earnings ratio in UK cities has since increased every year for the last eight years.
But cities still tend to be marginally more affordable than the UK as a whole, which has a house price-to-earnings ratio of 8.5.
This is explained by wages in cities being usually higher than in rural areas, and during the pandemic many city dwellers have relocated to the countryside, helping to push up house prices there.
Derry/Londonderry has held its position as the UK's most affordable city for the third year in a row, with a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.7.
Winchester was identified as the UK's least affordable city, replacing previous table-topper Oxford, with homes now 14 times annual earnings for those living and working there.
London was outside the top five least affordable cities for the first time in six years.
Russell Galley, managing director at Halifax, said: "Affordability is significantly better in the north and there are now just two cities - Plymouth and Portsmouth - with better than average affordability in the south."
Housing affordability improved in seven cities compared with a year earlier: Oxford, Carlisle, Portsmouth, Durham, Salford, Inverness and Glasgow.
Carlisle and Aberdeen are now more affordable than five years ago, with their house price-to-earnings ratios easing.
Inverness is the only city found to be more affordable than 10 years ago. An average home there costs 5.6 times average earnings, down from 6.2 in 2011, due to wage growth there outstripping house price growth.
Here are the top 20 most affordable cities in 2021, according to Halifax, with the price-to-earnings ratio followed by the average house price and average annual earnings:
1. Derry/Londonderry, Northern Ireland, 4.7, £155,917, £33,138
=2. Carlisle, North, 4.8, £163,232, £34,087
=2. Bradford, Yorkshire and the Humber, 4.8, £164,410, £34,219
=4. Stirling, Scotland, 5.4, £208,927, £38,744
=4. Aberdeen, Scotland, 5.4, £205,199, £38,016
=4. Glasgow, Scotland, 5.4, £196,625, £36,205
7. Perth, Scotland, 5.5, £203,229, £36,700
=8. Inverness, Scotland, 5.6, £191,840, £34,373
=8. Hull, Yorkshire and the Humber, 5.6, £156,424, £27,730
10. Dundee, Scotland, 5.8, £181,150, £31,344
11. Sunderland, North, 6.0, £179,567, £29,745
12. Lisburn, Northern Ireland, 6.1, £203,386, £33,138
=13. Salford, North West, 6.2, £211,903, £34,444
=13. Durham, North, 6.2, £196,274, £31,762
=13. Liverpool, North West, 6.2, £215,741, £34,911
=13. Belfast, Northern Ireland, 6.2, £205,228, £33,138
=13. Lancaster, North West, 6.2, £217,392, £35,004
18. Newcastle-upon-Tyne, North, 6.3, £229,434, £36,212
19. Stoke-on-Trent, West Midlands, 6.5, £200,161, £30,698
20. Hereford, West Midlands, 6.6, £316,929, £48,048
Here are the top 20 least affordable cities in 2021, according to Halifax, with the price-to-earnings ratio followed by the average house price and average annual earnings:
1. Winchester, South East, 14.0, £630,432, £45,059
2. Oxford, South East, 12.4, £486,928, £39,220
=3. Truro, South West, 12.1, £356,788, £29,558
=3. Bath, South West, 12.1, £476,470, £39,508
5. Chichester, South East, 10.6, £446,899, £37,352
6. Cambridge, East Anglia, 11.9, £482,300, £40,492
7. Brighton and Hove, South East, 11.6, £449,243, £38,737
8. London, South East, 11.0, £564,695, £51,257
=9. St Albans, South East, 10.2, £604,423, £59,391
=9. Chelmsford, South East, 10.2, £424,690, £41,781
11. Salisbury, South West, 10.0, £392,355, £39,154
12. Exeter, South West, 9.9, £323,554, £32,635
13. Leicester, East Midlands, 9.7, £279,080, £28,725
14. Norwich, East Anglia, 9.4, £306,946, £32,632
15. Bristol, South West, 9.3, £346,902, £37,357
=16. Southampton, South East, 9.0, £310,435, £34,429
=16. Canterbury, South East, 9.0, £365,168, £40,565
=16. Gloucester, South West, 9.0, £287,600, £31,987
19. Worcester, West Midlands, 8.8, £303,132, £34,389
20. Cardiff, Wales, 8.7, £276,851, £31,946
