House prices still strong, but sales volume dips

Average house prices in Scotland were up by 9.7% in August 2022 compared to the same time last year, according to the latest provisional statistics from the UK house price index published by Registers of Scotland.

The £195,391 average figure was also 0.2% higher than that recorded in July.

The UK average price was £295,903, an increase of 13.6% on August 2021 and of 0.9% on the previous month.

Year-on-year average increases were recorded in all 32 local authority areas. The largest mainland increase (25.5%) was in Argyll & Bute, followed by East Ayrshire (15.9%),  West Lothian (15.6%) and Dumfries & Galloway (15.5%). The smallest increase (0.7%) was recorded in City of Aberdeen, followed by Aberdeenshire (4.0%) and Scottish Borders (5.1%).

Sales volume is however declining compared with 2021. The initial provisional estimate for Janet Egdell, Registers of Scotland accountable officer commented: “Average prices for property in Scotland continued to rise in August 2022 and have increased in every month since July 2020 when comparing with the previous year. The annual increase has been in excess of 5% in every month since October 2020. In comparison, in the 12 months to October 2020, the annual increase only exceeded 3% on one occasion.

“Transaction volumes appear to be stabilising at levels similar to the pre-pandemic period. If we compare the growth in transactions over the first six months of 2022 against the same period in 2019, transactions are 0.03% lower in 2022.”

Detached properties continued to show the biggest increase, rising by 12.3% over the year to £349,010, while flats showed the smallest increase, up by an average 6.7% to £133,666.