Scottish house prices up but sales down

The average house price in Scotland from January to March was £173,830, the highest figure recorded for any quarter since RoS began compiling quarterly statistics in 2003.

RoS’ head of data, Hugh Welsh, said: “We’ve seen sustained growth in house prices throughout the 2014-15 financial year, with January to March’s figures representing the highest quarterly increase in average price since quarter one of 2007-08.

“Future sales statistics will determine whether this is a one-off spike in quarter four average prices, or whether this is a trend that will continue.”

All local authorities in Scotland showed a rise in average property prices.

The highest percentage rise was in East Lothian, up 28.6 percent on the same period in the previous year to an average of £248,902.

The total volume of sales across Scotland was 16,946, a decrease of 4.7 per cent on the same quarter in the previous year.

This is the second consecutive quarter that has seen sales volumes decrease, and is the highest annual decrease in sales volumes since quarter one of 2011-12.

West Dunbartonshire showed the largest percentage rise in the number of sales, with an increase of 10.6 per cent. The biggest percentage decrease was in Midlothian, which dropped 28.1 per cent to 233 residential house sales.

The total value of sales across Scotland registered in the quarter increased by 8.0 per cent to just under £2.95 billion compared to the previous year. This represents the highest value of sales for this quarter since 2007-08.

Edinburgh recorded both the highest average for the quarter at £260,647 – a rise of 21.4 per cent – and the highest volume of sales, with 2,123 property sales.

It also accounted for Scotland’s largest market value with sales of just over £553 million for the quarter, an increase of 29.2 per cent on the previous year.

All property types showed an increase in average house price, with semi-detached properties recording the largest increase at 15.0 per cent.

With the exception of detached properties which saw an increase in sales volumes of 9.1 per cent, the volumes of all property types decreases, with flats showing the biggest decrease at 9.1 per cent.

These statistics cover all residential sales, including those that did not involve a mortgage.