Homeowners have been warned Scotland's house price boom appears to be cooling in the wake of a string of interest rate increases.

Analysts say that recent increases in mortgages and the cost of borrowing will have an increasing effect on values in the months that lie ahead.

The latest came last week when the Bank of England raised rates by a quarter of a percentage point to 5.5% - their highest for six years - and experts predict another rise in the autumn.

Figures released yesterday showed increases slowed in the first three months of this year, with a quarterly rise at just 2.5% from 4% for the equivalent period two years ago.

And while year-on-year prices continue to grow across Scotland, outstripping most other parts of the UK, the rate of increase is on the wane.

In Scotland, the annual inflation rate fell from 16.6% in February to 14.8% in March, while in England it dropped from 10.7% to 9.8% and in Wales it dipped from 10.7% to 9.7%, according to government figures.

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) Scotland said that while confidence was dipping, members were still seeing house price rises of over 8% across Scotland. Its new analysis of the market due to be published today says that while 70% of surveyors reported a rise in prices in the three months to the end of April, confidence in the price outlook has fallen sharply.

Martin Ellis, chief economist with the Bank of Scotland, said that the affordability of Scottish homes was now a major issue and that the housing market was definitely cooling.

But he believed any drop in prices in the short term will be confined to individual months.

He said: "We expect the housing market in Scotland to slow during the course of this year in response to rising interest rates and increasing affordability issues as prices have risen very quickly in the last few years," he said.

"We're seeing signs the interest rate rises that we have seen since last August are beginning to take effect and we are going to see that becoming more pronounced over the coming months as we are going to see last week's rise to come into play as well.

"We cannot discount getting the occasional monthly fall but I think the general pattern is that of rising prices but at a slower pace than we have seen in the past."

One in three analysts polled for a recent survey predict rates will rise at least as high as 5.75% in coming months.

But some believe 6% is a real possibility, leading to worries of widespread house price falls.

First-time buyers across the UK continue to see double-figure year-on-year change despite a slight slowing, the latest research found.

The annual inflation rate for maiden buyers fell from 12.2% in February to 10.8%.

The value of homes being bought by first-time buyers increased by 1.5% in March, putting the typical cost up to £157,917.