House prices still on the rise
HOUSE prices are continuing to rise, making it harder for first-time buyers to clamber onto the property ladder, latest figures show.
According to the UK House Price Index, average values in both Renfrewshire and East Renfrewshire have increased by thousands of pounds over the past year.
The average value of a home in Renfrewshire in February was £156,618 – up by more than £10,000 compared to 12 months earlier.
Prices have climbed less steeply in East Renfrewshire, where the average value was £284,114 – an increase of more than £6,000.
East Renfrewshire remains the third most expensive place in Scotland to purchase a house, behind only Edinburgh, where the average price tag is £325,025, and East Lothian, where the figure is £301,644.
The cheapest place to snap up a property was Inverclyde, where the average price was just £126,828.
The percentage increase for Renfrewshire and East Renfrewshire over the 12-month period was 7.3% and 2.2% respectively.
Across Scotland as a whole, the average house price in February was £187,807, which is up by 5.6% compared to a year earlier.
A spokesperson for Registers of Scotland, which provides data for the UK House Price Index, said: “In Scotland, detached houses showed the highest annual percentage change out of all property types, increasing by 7.3 per cent in the 12 months to February 2024 to £338,000.
“Terraced houses showed the lowest annual percentage change, which increased by 4.7 per cent in the 12 months to February 2024 to an average price of £157,000.”
The average house price across the UK in February was around £281,000
New figures showing the number of homes sold locally have also been released.
A total of 271 homes were sold in Renfrewshire in December, compared to 310 in the same month in 2022.
However, in East Renfrewshire, the number increased from 133 to 144.