House price index shows 4.6 per cent increase in average prices in Scotland

The latest publication of the UK House Price Index (UK HPI) shows that the average price of a property in Scotland in June 2016 was £143,282 an increase of 4.6 per cent on the previous year and an increase of 2.7 per cent when compared to the previous month.

This compares to a UK average of £213,927 which was an increase of 8.7 per cent over the year, and an increase of 1.0 per cent when compared to the previous month.

RoS’ director of commercial services, Kenny Crawford, said: “The volume of residential sales in Scotland in April 2016 was 6,665, a decrease of 16.0 per cent on the previous year. This also compares with relatively high volumes of 11,017 in March 2016. The decrease in April 2016 was anticipated following the high volumes in the preceding month.”

Changes in Land and Buildings Transaction Tax that came into effect on 1 April 2016 for additional dwellings, such as second homes and buy-to-let properties, are likely to have contributed to the increase in March and to the subsequent decrease in volumes in April. The City of Edinburgh showed the biggest volume of sales in April with 745 sales.

The biggest price increase over the last year was in the City of Edinburgh where the average price increased by 11.7 per cent to £240,978. The biggest decrease was in the City of Aberdeen, where prices fell by 6.8 per cent to £178,069.

All property types showed an increase in average price when compared with the previous year, with detached properties showing the biggest increase of 6.2 per cent to £246,291.

Scotland sales volume are excluded from the figures used for highlighting purposes due to the volatility of the market in these areas.

The average price for a new build property in June 2016 was £182,481, an increase of 3.0 per cent on the previous year, while the average price for an existing resold property was £141,743, an increase of 4.9 per cent on the previous year.

The average price for a property purchased by a former owner occupier was £171,657, an increase of 5.5 per cent on the previous year. The average price for property purchased by a first time buyer was £115,877, an increase of 3.7 per cent on the previous year.

The average price for a cash sale was £132,248, an increase of 4.3 per cent on the previous year, while the average price for property purchased with a mortgage was £148,379, an increase of 4.8 per cent on the previous year.