Scottish housing market shows small gain in 2018, figures confirm
The value of the residential property market in Scotland increased by 1.3% to £18.1bn in 2018, according to the Calendar Year Residential Market Review published by Registers of Scotland today.
Although the volume of sales compared with 2017 declined by 2.3%, from 103,350 to 100,998, the average price of a property rose by 3.7%, from £172,796 to £179,121.
Average prices have been following a generally upward trend since 2012. Prior to this, increases were seen each year between 2004 and 2008, after which prices levelled off until 2012 in the wake of the financial crisis. However the rate of growth slowed compared with 2017.
The City of Edinburgh and East Renfrewshire showed the highest average prices in 2018 at £266,118 and £259,577 respectively. The lowest average prices in 2018 were in Na h-Eileanan Siar and North Ayrshire, at £112,044 and £121,826 respectively. The largest annual changes were seen in Midlothian, Falkirk and North Lanarkshire, with increases of 8.7%, 8.0% and 8.0% respectively. Only Aberdeen City and the Scottish Borders saw decreases, at 1.9% and 0.4% respectively. In Dundee the average price rose by 2.5%, and in Glasgow the growth was 5.0%.
Excluding local authorities with the smallest sales volumes, South Lanarkshire and North Ayrshire showed the largest increases in sales volume between 2017 and 2018, with rises of 6.2% and 2.9% respectively. Overall, decreases were seen in two thirds (22) of all local authority areas. East Dunbartonshire and City of Edinburgh showed the largest decreases, with falls of 9.1% and 8.8% respectively. Glasgow City, despite a 3.9% decline, recorded the highest volume of sales in Scotland in 2018, higher than the City of Edinburgh for the first time since 2011. Dundee City showed a 0.1% increase, and Aberdeen City a 2.7% decline.
An increase in sales volume was seen across all price bands for sales over £145,000 between 2017 and 2018, except for those over £625,000 and up to £750,000, where there were 10 fewer sales in 2018. There was a 7.7% decrease in the volume of sales of £145,000 or less, with sales between £20,000 and £40,000 down by 28.9%. At the other end of the distribution, there was an increase of 21.7% in the volume of sales over £1,000,000.