A NEW report on property values has exposed the gaping gap between house prices in Renfrewshire and East Renfrewshire.

According to the UK House Price Index, the average home in the Paisley area is worth around half of those in the neighbouring local authority area.

House prices in East Renfrewshire enjoyed a bigger increase than in any other part of Scotland last year, with the average value soaring by 15.4 per cent, from £190,683 to £220,072.

There was a more modest 6.2 per cent rise in Renfrewshire, with the average value increasing from £111,866 to £114,262.

This is still considerably higher than the 3.5 per cent increase recorded across Scotland as a whole, where the average price rose to £141,553.

Emma Sherwood, area manager for estate agents Allen & Harris, which has offices in both Renfrewshire and East Renfrewshire, said the local property market "remains buoyant."

She added: "There has been a slight decrease in house sales between the last quarter of 2016 and the first two months of 2017 due to a lack of available properties coming to the market.

"When availability is low, this drives prices upwards and we are seeing a growing trend of multiple viewings per property, with agreed sales prices far exceeding Home Report values.

"We expect, and are already building towards, a very successful March.

"We expect the ever-growing confidence in the market to encourage home movers towards their next home and first-time buyers to get on the property ladder with increased support from government deposit schemes and the availability of five per cent deposit mortgages.

"We expect average house prices to increase in 2017 by three per cent."

ENDS Overall, Scottish house prices tended to be lower than those in England and Wales which saw a 7.2 per cent increase compared to 3.5 per cent north of the border.

Kenny Crawford from Registers of Scotland which publishes the latest house prices said: "Sales volumes figures for September 2016 showed the first year-on-year increase in Scotland since March 2016. However, this growth has not continued into October and volumes have decreased by 14.7 per cent when compared with last year.

"On the other hand, average prices continue their steady growth year-on-year. With the exception of March, every month of 2016 showed an increase in average price when compared with the previous year. There was a decrease of 2.5 per cent in March 2016, but this followed on from a particularly high price increase in March 2015. In addition, there were no average price decreases year-on-year throughout 2014 and 2015, with the last decrease being recorded in June 2013."

The worse performing area in Scotland is the former property hotspot Aberdeenshire which saw the only negative drop in prices.