Average house prices in Scotland fell for a second month in a row, down 0.7% in June, but are still up 4.4% annually at £182,163.
Sales also fell, down 11% in the first quarter of 2018 compared with the same period in 2017, according to the latest Your Move Scotland house price index.
Led by growth of 8.3% in Edinburgh, prices in Scotland continue to outperform the rest of the UK with prices in England and Wales up just 1.7% year on year and up 4.2% in Northern Ireland.
But while prices in Edinburgh are still up significantly year on year to £273,897, the highest in Scotland, the figures show that they have dipped for two months on a row and down by 1% in June.
This was offset to an extent by a rise of 1.1% in Glasgow to an average of £158,367 but overall prices fell in 22 of the 32 local authority areas covered by the index. The largest drop in the month was in Dumfries and Galloway, where prices fell by 6.5%, with the average cost of detached homes reducing from £202,000 in May to £191,000 in June.
Na h-Eileanan Siar, the cheapest area in Scotland, meanwhile, saw average prices fall 5.4% to £102,356, and East Renfrewshire, the second most expensive, saw a drop of 3.1% to £262,358.
In half of those that saw increases, though, there were new peak prices, with West Lothian, Argyll and Bute, Renfrewshire and Dundee City all setting new highs. Inverclyde, up 7.2%, recorded the biggest monthly rise and the Scottish borders also saw strong growth with a month on month rise of 3.6%.
It’s also a much more positive story on an annual basis across Scotland. Only three areas, East Ayrshire, Perth and Kinross, and Aberdeen, saw prices fall from 12 months ago.
‘The market in Scotland has noticeably slowed yet it still shows some strong annual growth, and it’s encouraging to see almost all areas showing positive performance,’ said Christine Campbell, Your Move managing director in Scotland.
Alan Penman, business development manager for Walker Fraser Steele, one of Scotland’s oldest firms of chartered surveyors and part of the LSL group of companies, pointed out that despite a slowdown, Edinburgh remains the foundation of the market in Scotland, showing a market with considerable resilience.
