THREE cities in Scotland have shown the greatest increase in property prices in the UK in the last decade, according to a new report that reveals an increasing divide between the northern and southern parts of the country.

Aberdeen, Dundee and Inverness had the biggest recorded rises in the price of an average property between 2004 and 2014, figures from Lloyds Bank show.

Stirling is the most affordable city to buy a house, with the average home costing £132,734 - 3.3 times the local average salary. In comparison, in Oxford a typical home costs £340,864 - more than 11 times average annual earnings.

House prices in Londonderry - the second most affordable UK city - are lower than in Stirling, with the average property costing £99,075, but wages are also lower in the Northern Irish city.

In Aberdeen, the average price of a home rose by 94% from £104,288 to £202,120, while in Dundee it rose by 60% from £85,201 to £136,56 and in Inverness it increased by 46% from £107,508 to £156,902 over the 10-year period.

The report found that, overall, city living has become less affordable over the last year amid surging house prices, with the average price of a home in a large town or city growing by 5% to reach £184,215 - 5.8 times average earnings.

A year ago, a home-buyer would have had to stretch themselves slightly less, as city house prices typically cost 5.6 times wages.

Marc Page, Lloyds Bank mortgages director, said: "Over the last five to 10 years, affordability has marginally improved in most UK cities, as increases in earnings have kept up with house price rises in that time.

"However, the economic and lifestyle benefits often associated with residing in cities are continuing to drive demand, especially in the south of England.

"With city house prices continuing to rise, affordability deteriorated slightly last year, but the trend since 2009 is positive for the majority of UK cities."

The UK's most affordable cities are mostly clustered in Northern Ireland and the north of England, with just two Scottish cities, Stirling and Glasgow - the ninth most affordable - featuring in the most affordable list.

At the other end of the spectrum, 17 of the 20 least affordable cities were in the south of England, with Winchester, Truro, Bath and Brighton following Oxford.

Although property prices in Westminster are among the highest in the UK, relatively high earnings in the heart of London stopped the area from coming higher on the list.

The UK housing market has picked up sharply in some areas over the last year amid government schemes such as Help to Buy, which have unleashed fresh demand on the property market from people who had previously struggled to get a mortgage.

But critics of government mortgage initiatives have argued that the supply of homes coming on to the market is not keeping up with growing demand, which they say is putting an upward pressure on house prices, particularly in London and parts of the south-east, and putting some buyers in danger of over-stretching themselves.

Pundits have said mortgage borrowers should start thinking now about how they will cope when the Bank of England base rate eventually starts to climb again. The bank rate has been at a historic low for five years, helping to keep mortgage payments relatively affordable.

Despite affordability worsening over the last year, the cost of buying a city home has improved compared with the peak of the market in 2008, when property prices in cities cost around 7.2 times earnings.

Affordability is also slightly better than 10 years ago, with urban property prices typically costing 5.9 times wages in 2004.

Lloyds used the house price database of sister bank Halifax for its research as well as Office for National Statistics (ONS) earnings figures.

Halifax reported last week that house prices across the whole of the UK lifted by 7.9% year-on-year in February, marking the strongest annual growth seen since 2007. But it also said that house prices across the UK are still sitting at around 10% below their pre-financial crisis peak.