Property prices in Scotland up 4% year on year

Average property prices in Scotland have increased by 4% year on year and were up 2.1% month on month in January 2017, the latest official figures show.

This rise takes the average price of a home to £142,233, according to the data published by the Registers of Scotland.

But sales were falling towards the end of 2016, with the most up to date figures showing that transactions were down by 3.2% month on month and year on year in November 2016. But this was up by 0.2% compared with November 2014 and up by 23% compared to the same month in 2012.

‘Average prices continue to hold steady. January 2017 has continued the general upward trend seen in 2016 when every month, with the exception of March, showed an increase in average price when compared with the same month of the previous year,’ said Registers of Scotland director of commercial services Kenny Crawford.

A breakdown of the figures show that the top five local authorities in terms of sales volumes were Edinburgh, Glasgow, Fife, South Lanarkshire and North Lanarkshire.

The biggest price increase year on year was in East Renfrewshire where the average price increased by 10.8% to £213,353. The biggest decrease was in Aberdeen where prices fell by 10.2% to £163,176.

Crawford pointed out that average prices in Aberdeen have been showing year on year decreases for each month since June 2015. In relation to volumes, both the city of Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire had the biggest decrease of 2.4% when comparing November 2016 with November 2015.

Across Scotland, all property types showed an increase in average price in January 2017 when compared with the same month in the previous year, with detached properties showing the biggest increase of 4.6% to £248,647.

The average price in January 2017 for a property purchased by a former owner occupier was £170,921, an increase of 4.3% compared to the same month in the previous year. The average price for property purchased by a first time buyer was £114,617, an increase of 3.6 % on the previous year.

According to John Moran, managing director of Grant Property, there is high demand for property in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Dundee and Stirling and a shortage of properties in some locations.

The firm is also continuing to see interest from overseas investors particularly from the Middle East and Asia.