Average house prices in Scotland down by 2.3%

Average house prices in Scotland fell by 2.3 per cent between April and June compared with the same quarter in 2015.
By The Newsroom
Published 26th Jul 2016, 22:45 BST
Updated 25th Aug 2016, 20:48 BST

This article contains affiliate links. We may earn a small commission on items purchased through this article, but that does not affect our editorial judgement.

The average price of a home in Scotland has fallen to £164,326. Picture: TSPLThe average price of a home in Scotland has fallen to £164,326. Picture: TSPL
The average price of a home in Scotland has fallen to £164,326. Picture: TSPL

The average price of a residential property was £164,326, down from £168,119 the previous year, according to statistics published by Registers of Scotland (RoS).

The number of residential property sales rose by 4.9 per cent between April and June compared with the same period in 2015, with 25,760 homes changing hands – the highest volume of sales for the quarter since 2008-9.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The figures also revealed the total value of sales across Scotland between April and June increased by 2.5 per cent compared to the previous year, to just over £4.2 billion.

Edinburgh was the largest market, with sales of more than £745.7 million for the quarter, up 7.1 per cent on the previous year.

• READ MORE: Nicola Sturgeon: Scottish independence may offer ‘greatest stability’ post-Brexit

South Ayrshire recorded the highest increase in value, with sales of over £92.2m, an increase of 27.8 per cent compared with the same quarter last year.

Aberdeen showed the largest decrease in market value, down 24.4 per cent to £223.8m. The north-east city also recorded the largest percentage fall in the number of sales – down 19.5 per cent to 1,063.

The greatest percentage rise in the volume of sales was in Argyll and Bute, with an increase of 24.5 per cent to 462 residential sales.

The average price of a property was highest in East ­Renfrewshire at £241,364 and lowest in West Dunbartonshire at £105,859.

• READ MORE: 10,000 sign petition to ‘hold Tony Blair to account’ over Iraq war

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Kenny Crawford, director of commercial services at RoS, said: “The total value of the residential property market continues to make an important contribution to the Scottish economy.

“We saw a sustained increase in the volume of sales during the previous financial year and this trend is continuing in the first quarter of 2016-17.

“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, may have contributed to this increase.

“While volumes are up this quarter, prices are down by 2.3 per cent compared to the previous year, bringing the average price to £164,326.

Like The Scotsman on Facebook

DOWNLOAD THE SCOTSMAN APP ON ITUNES OR GOOGLE PLAY

Related topics:ScotlandEdinburgh