House prices fall as sales increase

● Residential property sales rise by 4.9% and total value by 2.5%

Average house prices in Scotland have fallen over the last year as the number of sales continued to increase, according to official figures.

Registers of Scotland said the average price between April and June was £164,326, a drop of 2.3 per cent on the same period last year.

The number of residential sales rose by 4.9 per cent. A total of 25,760 properties were sold – the highest number for the Apriljune period since 2008-9.

Average house prices in Scotland fell by 2.3 per cent between April and June compared with the same quarter in 2015.

The average price of a residential property was £164,326, down from £168,119 the previous year, according to statistics published by Registers of Scotland (ROS).

The number of residential property sales rose by 4.9 per cent between April and June compared with the same period in 2015, with 25,760 homes changing hands – the highest volume of sales for the quarter since 2008-9.

The figures also revealed the total value of sales across Scotland between April and June increased by 2.5 per cent compared to the previous year, to just over £4.2 billion.

Edinburgh was the largest market, with sales of more than £745.7 million for the quarter, up 7.1 per cent on the previous year.

South Ayrshire recorded the highest increase in value, with sales of over £92.2m, an increase of 27.8 per cent compared with the same quarter last year.

Aberdeen showed the largest decrease in market value, down 24.4 per cent to £223.8m. The north-east city also recorded the largest percentage fall in the number of sales – down 19.5 per cent to 1,063.

The greatest percentage rise in the volume of sales was in Argyll and Bute, with an increase of 24.5 per cent to 462 residential sales.

The average price of a property was highest in East Renfrewshire at £241,364 and lowest in West Dunbartonshire at £105,859.

Kenny Crawford, director of commercial services at ROS, said: “The total value of the residential property market continues to make an important contribution to the Scottish economy.

“We saw a sustained increase in the volume of sales during the previous financial year and this trend is continuing in the first quarter of 2016-17.

“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, may have contributed to this increase.

“While volumes are up this quarter, prices are down by 2.3 per cent compared to the previous year, bringing the average price to £164,326.