Average Scottish house prices increase by 6.7% in a year

This compares to a UK average of £224,144, which was an increase of 4.2% on March in the previous year and virtually unchanged when compared to the previous month, the latest publication of the monthly UK House Price Index (UK HPI) has shown.

The volume of residential sales in Scotland in January 2018 was 5,909 – a decrease of 7.4% on January 2017. This compares with annual decreases in sales volumes of 12.0% in England and 7.3% in Wales in January 2018, and 12.4% in Northern Ireland Quarter 1 - 2018.

Registers of Scotland business development and information director, Kenny Crawford, said: “Average prices in Scotland continued their upward trend in March with an increase of 6.7% when compared to March 2017. Average prices have been increasing each month since March 2016, when compared with the same month of the previous year.

“Residential sales volumes decreased in January. The annual decrease of 7.4% when compared with January 2017 in Scotland is in the context of large decreases across the rest of the UK. The cumulative volume of sales for Scotland for the financial year to date – from April 2017 to January 2018 – was 87,097. This is an increase of 5.7% on the equivalent year to date position in the previous financial year 2016/17.”

Average price increases were recorded in the vast majority (27) of local authorities in March 2018, when comparing prices with the previous year. The biggest price increases were in Falkirk, City of Edinburgh and West Lothian, where average prices increased by 12.7% to £123,800, 12.5% to £252,992 and 12.0% to £153,550 respectively. Decreases were recorded in Aberdeen City and Inverclyde where prices fell by 2.1% to £160,464 and 1.4% to £97,924 respectively.

Increases in sales volumes were recorded in less than one quarter (7) of local authorities in January 2018, when comparing volumes with the previous year. The biggest increases were in Stirling and East Ayrshire, where volumes increased by 21.0% to 121 sales and 11.3% to 128 sales respectively. The biggest decreases were in Moray, Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire, where volumes fell by 32.8% to 86 sales, 25.1% to 191 sales and 24.7% to 216 sales respectively.

Across Scotland, all property types showed an increase in average price in March 2018 when compared with the same month in the previous year. Terraced properties showed the biggest increase, rising by 7.6% to £121,637. The average price of flatted properties showed an increase of 5.9% to £104,160, the smallest increase of all property types.

The average price in March 2018 for a property purchased by a first time buyer was £117,837 – an increase of 6.2% compared to the same month in the previous year. The average price for a property purchased by a former owner occupier was £175,306 – an increase of 7.1% on the previous year.

The average price for a cash sale was £134,530 – an increase of 6.2% on the previous year – while the average price for property purchased with a mortgage was £151,344 – an increase of 6.9% on the previous year.