Average price of property in Scotland up 3.2 per cent on previous year

This compares to a UK average of £231,422, which was an increase of 3.1 per cent on July in the previous year and an increase of 1.2 per cent when compared to the previous month. The average price of a property in Scotland has increased each month since March 2016, when compared with the same month of the previous year.

The volume of residential sales in Scotland in May 2018 was 7,993 – a decrease of 6.3 per cent on May 2017. This compares with annual decreases in sales volumes of 16.1 per cent in England and 14.4 per cent in Wales in May 2018, and 13.0 per cent in Northern Ireland in Quarter 2 - 2018. The cumulative volume of sales for Scotland for the calendar year to date – from January 2018 to May 2018 – was 34,711. This is a decrease of 9.2 per cent on the equivalent year to date position in the previous calendar year (2017).

Average price increases were recorded in the vast majority (29) of local authorities in July 2018, when comparing prices with the previous year. The biggest price increases were in West Dunbartonshire and West Lothian, where average prices increased by 12.7 per cent to £109,076 and 10.8 per cent to £160,075 respectively. The decreases were recorded in City of Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire and East Ayrshire, where average prices fell by 4.4 per cent to £159,328, 3.7 per cent to £188,835 and 2.3 per cent to £95,325 respectively.

Increases in sales volumes were recorded in eight local authorities in May 2018, when comparing volumes with the previous year. The biggest increases were in Stirling and Inverclyde, where volumes increased by 24.6 per cent to 157 sales and 7.4 per cent to 101 sales respectively. The biggest decreases were in City of Edinburgh and East Ayrshire, where volumes fell by 21.7 per cent to 881 sales and 19.5 per cent to 173 sales respectively.

Across Scotland, all property types showed an increase in average price in July 2018 when compared with the same month in the previous year. Terraced properties showed the biggest increase, rising by 4.1 per cent to £126,061, while semi-detached properties and flatted properties increased by 3.1 per cent to £156,903 and £111,344 respectively, and detached properties increased by 2.6 per cent to £260,221.

The average price in July 2018 for a property purchased by a first-time buyer was £123,859 – an increase of 3.5 per cent compared to the same month in the previous year. The average price for a property purchased by a former owner-occupier was £181,149 – an increase of 2.8 per cent on the previous year.

The average price for a cash sale was £140,862 – an increase of 2.9 per cent on the previous year – while the average price for property purchased with a mortgage was £157,509 – an increase of 3.3 per cent on the previous year.