This represents an increase of 3.4 per cent on the previous year and an increase of 1.3 per cent when compared to the previous month.

This compares to a UK average of £216,750, which was an increase of 8.3 per cent over the year and an increase of 0.4 per cent when compared to the previous month.

Registers of Scotland’s head of products, Rhona Mackay, said: “The volume of residential sales in Scotland in May 2016 was 7,131 – a decrease of 16.8 per cent on the previous year, but up 7.0 per cent on last month.

“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, are likely to have contributed to the increase in volumes seen in March and to the subsequent lower volumes seen in April and May.”

The top five local authorities in terms of sales volumes were the City of Edinburgh (872 sales), Glasgow City (826 sales), Fife (491 sales), South Lanarkshire (430 sales) and North Lanarkshire (404 sales).

The biggest price increase over the last year was in East Renfrewshire where the average price increased by 10.7 per cent to £216,382. The biggest decrease was in the City of Aberdeen, where prices fell by 6.9 per cent to £178,977.