Prices up but volumes fall again in latest house price figures

Property prices in Scotland are rising more strongly, while sales volumes are declining but at a slower rate, compared with the UK as a whole, according to new figures from Registers of Scotland.

The latest publication of the monthly UK House Price Index shows that the average price of a property in Scotland in June 2018 was £150,472, up 4.8% on June 2017 and 0.8% higher than the previous month. This compares to a UK average of £228,384, up 3.0% on June 2017 and 0.4% when compared with May 2018.

Residential sales volume in April 2018 was 7,371 across Scotland, down by 9.4% on April 2017 – compared with year-on-year declines of 19.3% in England and 13.9% in Wales, as well as 13.0% in Northern Ireland for quarter 2 of 2018.

Average price increases for June were recorded in 27 of the 32 Scottish local authority areas, with the biggest rises in West Lothian (11.3%), Midlothian and City of Edinburgh (both 9.2%). The largest decreases were in Aberdeenshire (3.7%) and City of Aberdeen (2.8%).

Increases in sales volumes were recorded in just four local authorities in April 2018, compared with the previous year – East Lothian, Perth & Kinross, Dundee and Clackmannan. The biggest decreases were in Argyll & Bute (33.0%), Stirling (23.9%) and Inverclyde (23.3%).

Registers of Scotland Business Development and Information Director Kenny Crawford commented: "Average prices in Scotland have been increasing each month since March 2016, when compared with the same month of the previous year."

Semi-detached properties showed the biggest increase (6.0%), followed by terraced properties (5.9%), flatted properties (4.5%) and detached properties (3.3%).