Detached homes hardest hit as prices drop

The price of an average home fell from £163,360 in the same period last year to £163,091. The biggest drop was in detached properties, where average sales values slumped by £6,855 or 2.8 per cent.

Property values dropped further in Inverclyde than anywhere else in Scotland Prices in the area fell by almost 10 per cent to an average of £125,026.

The highest percentage rise was recorded in Stirling with an average price of £196,689, a rise of 7.9 per cent compared with the same quarter the previous year, while in Edinburgh, the highest average price was recorded at £225,378 – a fall of 2.1 per cent.

Scott Brown, estate agency partner at Warners, said: “The latest Registers of Scotland report shows an accurate reflection of the state of Scotland’s property market at the moment. House prices are almost identical to their 2010 levels, and the market is fairly flat across the country.

“For the majority of companies, there is also relatively little change in the number of properties being sold, so it is clear that the conditions in the property sector remain very challenging.”

Glasgow recorded the highest sales volumes in Scotland with 2,247 residential house sales, a decrease of 4 per cent on the previous year – ahead of the Scotland-wide average drop of 3.7 per cent.

The volume of sales of flats fell most dramatically over the period, plummeting by 5.8 per cent.

The total value of sales across Scotland registered in the quarter fell by 3.9 per cent compared with the previous year to just over £3.3 billion.

Edinburgh remains the largest market in terms of sales values, boasting a total of £496 million for the quarter – a decrease of 6.9 per cent over the same quarter last year.

Aberdeenshire showed the highest percentage rise with the value of sales increasing by 8.9 per cent compared to the previous year.

In Stirling, experts said demand was outstripping supply, forcing prices higher.

Dominic Wedderburn, head of CKD Galbraith’s Stirling residential department, said: “We believe that the Stirling residential market is currently price sensitive. We are experiencing a good level of demand for correctly priced properties in sought after locations as there is a scarcity of quality housing available for sale.”

But RICS Scotland director Graeme Hartley warned a rise did not signal a return to growth in the Scottish housing market. “Whilst we’ve seen some increases over past months and now a slight drop in overall recorded prices, the picture more or less continues to be flat-lining for Scotland’s housing market,” he said.

“This matches the findings of RICS’ most recent housing market survey, completed by chartered surveyors.

“Our members reported a slight increase in activity during September, but whether this translates into sales ahead of Christmas will have to be seen.”

He added: “It’s important not to expect a return to pre-credit crunch levels of lending and rapidly rising house prices, but hopefully in time a more stable and realistic housing market will emerge.”

The figures, which are released once a quarter, cover all residential sales, including cash sales, which do not involve a mortgage.