The 14 most expensive council areas in Scotland to buy property – including East Lothian and the Highlands

East Lothian has been named as the most expensive council area in Scotland to buy a home over the last year, official figures have revealed.

According to the yearly property market report from the Registers of Scotland, which records all of the country’s property sales, East Lothian had the highest median home price of all local authorities at £283,227 in 2023–24.

It is perhaps unsurprising, with the area being home to North Berwick which was named as the best place to live in the UK in 2024 by the Sunday Times.

East Renfrewshire – last year’s most expensive council area – closely follows East Lothian with its median house price of £280,000. It is also the region which experienced the widest range of prices with 60% of sales between £160,000 and £455,000.

The report also highlights that 22% of all residential property sales in Scotland come from Glasgow and Edinburgh, which share the highest volume of sales, with the capital city the third most expensive council area in the country.

Meanwhile, on the other end of the scale, Inverclyde had the lowest median house price in the last year at £107,108 – a difference of £176,119 from this year’s most expensive council area.

Based on the median house price from 2023, here are the 14 most expensive council areas to buy a home in Scotland.