2018-19 property sales value best in 11 years: RoS report

11th June 2019 | property (non-commercial)

The value of residential property sales in Scotland reached an 11 year high in the last financial year, according to Registers of Scotland’s Property Market Report 2018-19, published today.

Total sales value was £18.2bn, an increase of 1.6% compared with 2017-18, and 67% higher than the recession-hit year of 2009-10, but remains 21% below the pre-financial crisis peak of £23.1bn seen in 2007-08.

Sales volumes dipped by 0.5% in the year, to 101,628 sales, 44% above the low of 2011-12 but 32% below the peak of 150,455 sales in 2006-07.

The Property Market Report is the main statistical compendium publication from Registers of Scotland. It details the major trends in the Scottish land and property market since 2003-04, and includes residential and non-residential markets as well as key statistics on house prices and sale transactions.

The average price of a residential property in Scotland in 2018-19 was £178,991, up 2.2% on 2017-18 and 16% when compared with the pre-financial crash average price of £154,817 in 2007-08. Since 2003-04, the start of RoS house price data, the average residential property price in Scotland has increased by 77%.

For the non-residential market, the total market value of all types of sales in 2018-19 was £4.0bn. Commercial sales accounted for 81%, with the remainder from sales of forestry, agriculture and land.

Further findings from the report include:

  • 12% of residential property sales in Scotland in 2018-19 were new-builds, the highest proportion since 2008-09;
  • 28% of all residential properties sold were located in one of Scotland’s seven cities, with the highest number of sales in Glasgow;
  • 69% of residential sales transactions were with a mortgage, with cash sales accounting for the balance;
  • there were 181 residential property sales for more than £1m, two-thirds of them in the City of Edinburgh (119 sales).

Commenting on the release, RoS accountable officer Janet Egdell said: “The Scottish property market is a significant component of the Scottish economy. In 2018-19, the total value of residential sales continued to rise, largely due to average prices continuing to increase while the volume of sales has levelled off in recent years.”