Last night I was given a newspaper cutting about house prices, based on the Bank of Scotland’s seaside towns study. Seven of the 10 coastal towns with the biggest price increases over 10 years were in Aberdeenshire. Top of the list was Fraserburgh with prices up by 139% to £151,719 in 2015, the equivalent of a monthly increase of £735. Next were Macduff (up 102%), then Peterhead (up 95%), Cove (up 94%) and Newtonhill (up 91%).
North Berwick is the most expensive seaside town at an average price of £327,124, followed by St Andrews (£302,536), Newtonhill (£245,507), Stonehaven (£236,057) and Inverbervie (£213,468).
All fine and dandy if you are a houseowner in Newtonhill like me and my other half, but not so great if you are trying to get on to the housing ladder.
By the way, the least expensive coastal town is Port Bannatyne in Bute with an average price of £77,132.