Volatile fluctuations in Scottish house prices continue
06-16-2021
The average price of a property in Scotland has increased by 6.3% in 12 months to reach £161,401 in April 2021 but has fallen by 4.1% compared to the previous month, according to the latest provisional statistics from the UK House Price Index.
The UK average house price was £250,772 which was an increase of 8.9% on April 2020 and a decrease of 1.9% on the previous month.
The volume of residential sales in Scotland in February 2021 was 7,198, an increase of 25.5% on the original provisional estimate for February 2020. This compares with increases of 31.7% in England, 2.8% in Wales, and 41.8% in Northern Ireland (Quarter 1 – 2021 compared with the same quarter in the previous year).
Commenting on the house price figures in Scotland, Registers of Scotland accountable officer Janet Egdell said: “Over the year as a whole from April 2020 to end February 2021, volumes have picked up and cumulatively are now around 88% of levels in the previous year.
“Average house prices have remained strong over the last year, showing increases in every month from April 2020 to April 2021 when compared to the previous year, with the exception of July 2020.”
In Scotland, flatted properties showed the largest increase in average house price, rising by 7.8% in the year to April 2021 to £114,328, although this figure may have been affected by the low numbers of transactions recorded in April 2020. Flats continue to show the smallest increase out of all property types when looking at average price increases between the month of July 2020 (following the end of the first lockdown period) and April 2021. Semi-detached properties showed the smallest increase, rising by 5.3% in the year to April 2021 to £168,537.
Average price increases were recorded in 30 out of the 32 local authorities, when comparing prices with the previous year. The largest increase was in South Ayrshire where the average price increased by 16.7% to £147,222. The largest decrease was recorded in Aberdeen City, where the average price decreased by 0.5% to £138,303.
Caution has been advised when interpreting the latest annual price increases given the low numbers of transactions in April 2020.
Volatile fluctuations from month to month are also set to continue over the coming months as the ongoing impact of COVID-19 on the housing market and the economy becomes clear.