Average house prices up 4.8% on previous year

The City of Edinburgh saw house prices rise by 9.2%

The average price of a property in Scotland has increased by 4.8% in 12 months to reach £150,472 in June 2018, according to the Registers of Scotland.

The latest publication of the monthly UK House Price Index (UK HPI) revealed that the figure was an increase of 0.8% when compared to the previous month.

This compares to a UK average of £228,384, which was an increase of 3.0% on June in the previous year and an increase of 0.4% when compared to the previous month.

The volume of residential sales in Scotland in April 2018 was 7,371 – a decrease of 9.4% on April 2017. This compares with annual decreases in sales volumes of 19.3% in England and 13.9% in Wales in April 2018, and 13.0% in Northern Ireland in Quarter 2 - 2018.

Registers of Scotland business development and information director, Kenny Crawford, said: “Average prices in Scotland continued their upward trend in June with an increase of 4.8% when compared to June 2017. Average prices have been increasing each month since March 2016, when compared with the same month of the previous year.

“Residential sales volumes decreased in April, the start of the new financial year 2018/19. The annual decrease of 9.4% when compared with April 2017 in Scotland is in the context of larger decreases across the rest of the UK.”

Average price increases were recorded in the majority (27) of local authorities in June 2018, when comparing prices with the previous year. The biggest price increases were in West Lothian, Midlothian and City of Edinburgh, where average prices increased by 11.3% to £159,408, 9.2% to £180,807 and 9.2% to £255,361 respectively. The largest decreases were recorded in Aberdeenshire and City of Aberdeen, where average prices fell by 3.7% to £189,200 and 2.8% to £159,507 respectively.

Increases in sales volumes were recorded in just four local authorities in April 2018, when comparing volumes with the previous year. The biggest increases were in East Lothian and Perth & Kinross, where volumes increased by 20.1% to 185 sales and 11.9% to 244 sales respectively. The biggest decreases were in Argyll and Bute, Stirling and Inverclyde, where volumes fell by 33.0% to 124 sales, 23.9% to 102 sales and 23.3% to 89 sales respectively.

Across Scotland, all property types showed an increase in average price in June 2018 when compared with the same month in the previous year. Semi-detached properties showed the biggest increase, rising by 6.0% to £157,588, while terraced properties increased by 5.9% to £125,651, flatted properties increased by 4.5% to £109,571, and detached properties increased by 3.3% to £253,725.

The average price in June 2018 for a property purchased by a first time buyer was £122,657 – an increase of 5.0% compared to the same month in the previous year. The average price for a property purchased by a former owner occupier was £178,631 – an increase of 4.4% on the previous year.

The average price for a cash sale was £138,312 – an increase of 4.4% on the previous year – while the average price for property purchased with a mortgage was £155,883 – an increase of 4.9% on the previous year.

Shelter Scotland said the above inflation house price rises are “no reason for celebration”.

Director Graeme Brown said: “High house prices disproportionately impact on young people, first-time buyers and those on lower incomes who are already struggling to get on the property ladder and contribute directly to Scotland’s housing crisis.

“At the heart of our housing crisis is the lack of genuinely affordably homes with demand greatly outstripping supply and leaving people at the mercy of market forces. We need to see a real step change in the supply of affordable housing. This would ease wider pressure in our housing system and make it easier for more people to secure an affordable home.”

He added: “Earlier this week we launched our Living Home Standard report which showed 1 in 3 homes in Scotland didn’t live up to people’s expectations of what a good home should provide. One of the key criteria for failing the standard was affordability. High rises in house prices isn’t going to make the situation any better.”

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