House prices fall more than 8% in a year

Published on Wednesday 15 April 2009 21:32

THE value of the average Scottish house has tumbled by 8.6 per cent in the past year, new government data has revealed.

Scottish house prices now average 150,141, according to the UK Department of Communities and Local Government (CLG), which compared prices in the three months to February with the same period last year.

But Scottish house price falls have been less severe than those experienced elsewhere in the UK.

The average UK house price was 12.3 per cent lower in February than a year ago, CLG said.

The average cost of a UK property dropped 2.7 per cent between January and February, the 16th consecutive monthly decline in the annual rate of house price inflation, taking the annual decline to a new record.

Prices in Northern Ireland were hardest hit, down 19.4 per cent over the year, followed by a 12.5 per cent drop in Wales and a 12.4 per cent decline in England.

But first-time buyers typically paid 15.1 per cent less in February than a year ago, compared with an average price paid by home movers that was 11.2 per cent lower.

The average house price paid by first-time buyers across the UK in February was 135,702, against an average of 223,133 paid by owner-occupiers.