Comparing with the previous month, house prices in Scotland rose by 0.7 per cent between June 2019 and July 2019.

The UK average house price was £232,710, which was an increase of 0.7 per cent on July in the previous year and an increase of 0.5 per cent on the previous month.

The volume of residential sales in Scotland in May 2019 was 9,540 – an increase of 19 per cent on the original provisional estimate for May 2018. This compares with an increase of 2.6 per cent in England, 3.7 per cent in Wales and a decrease of 1.8 per cent in Northern Ireland (Quarter 2 – 2019).

In Scotland, detached houses showed the largest increase, rising by 3.2 per cent in the year to July 2019 to £266,304. Flats and maisonettes showed the largest decrease, falling by 0.4 per cent in the year to July 2019 to £110,607.

Average price increases were recorded in the majority (25) of local authorities, when comparing prices with the previous year. The largest increase was in East Dunbartonshire, where the average price increased by 6.4 per cent to £223,331. The largest decrease was recorded in City of Aberdeen, where the average price fell by 6.3 per cent to £148,151.

Local authority estimates are based on a three-month moving average to reduce volatility.

In July 2019, the highest-priced area to purchase a property was Edinburgh, where the average price was £263,894. In contrast, the lowest-priced area to purchase a property was East Ayrshire, where the average price was £96,482.

Registers of Scotland’s development director Kenny Crawford said: “The UK HPI shows that house prices in Scotland grew twice as fast as the UK average in July 2019, and have been growing faster than the UK annual rate in all but three months since December 2017.

“On average, Edinburgh is still the most expensive place in Scotland to buy a home - house prices have risen almost £8,000 in the city over the past year, but areas such as East Dunbartonshire and Stirling have shown large increases too. By contrast, between July 2018 and July 2019, the average price of residential property in the city of Aberdeen fell by around £10,000.

“Registers of Scotland’s data helps to produce what is widely regarded as the most accurate and detailed insight into UK residential property prices. You can use the free ScotLIS service to check house prices in your area.”

The figures have been welcomed by Edinburgh-based Garrington Property Finders, which said the Scottish market is “leaving its English counterpart in the dust”.

Commenting on the figures, partner Edwina de Klee said: “Scotland’s property market is once again leaving its English counterpart in the dust. At 1.4%, the average rise in the value of Scottish homes during the 12 months to July is a world away from the halting 0.3% gain posted by the average home in England.

“While prices in the English market as a whole are being dragged towards stagnation by falling prices in London and southern England, prices are gaining momentum north of the border – leaping by 0.7% in July alone.”

She added: “Transaction volumes are also on the up, with the number of sales in Scotland rising at seven times the pace seen in England. Nevertheless, the story is not one of uniform progress across Scotland. The polarisation between the best-performing markets and the weakest is growing. East Dunbartonshire’s 6.4% rise in prices mirrors the painful 6.3% fall in prices seen in Aberdeen.

“A patchwork of micro-markets is normal, but the regional divide is being amplified by fears about how the Brexit endgame will shake out. And while real progress is being made in much of Scotland, there is nothing inevitable or permanent about the current strength of the market.”