National statistics

UK House Price Index Scotland: August 2019

Published 16 October 2019

Applies to Scotland

1. Headline statistics for August 2019

the average price of a property in Scotland was

£154,549

the annual price change of a property in Scotland was

1.6%

the monthly price change of a property in Scotland was

0.3%

the index figure for Scotland (January 2015 = 100) was

114.5

Estimates for the most recent months are provisional and are likely to be updated as more data is incorporated into the index. Read the revision policies.

Next publication of UK HPI

The September 2019 UK HPI will be published at 9.30am on Wednesday 13 November 2019. See the calendar of release dates.

Glasgow City and North Lanarkshire local authority boundary change

On 1 April 2019, an area of land was transferred from Glasgow City local authority area to North Lanarkshire. See the Glasgow City Council Area and North Lanarkshire Council Area (Cardowan by Stepps) Boundaries Amendment Order 2018 for more information.

2. Economic statement

Scotland house prices increased by 1.6% in the year to August 2019, up slightly from 1.5% in the year to July 2019. Scotland house prices were growing faster than the UK annual rate of 1.3% in the year to August 2019. On a non-seasonally adjusted basis average house prices in Scotland increased by 0.3% between July 2019 and August 2019, compared with a rise of 0.2% during the same period a year earlier (July 2018 and August 2018). On a seasonally adjusted basis, average house prices in Scotland increased by 0.5% between July 2019 and August 2019.

Comparing the provisional volume estimate for June 2018 with the provisional estimate for June 2019, volume transactions fell by 13.4% in Scotland. UK volume transactions fell by 6.4% over the same period.

In Scotland, detached houses showed the biggest increase, rising by 2.6% in the year to August 2019 to £267,000. The average price of flats and maisonettes grew by 0.6% in the year to August 2019 to £111,000.

House prices increased over the last year in 26 out of 32 local authority areas. The biggest average price increase was in East Dunbartonshire, where prices increased by 4.7% in the year to August 2019 to £224,000. The biggest fall was recorded in City of Aberdeen, where average prices fell over the year by 8.3% to £146,000.

As with other indicators in the housing market, which typically fluctuate from month to month, it is important not to put too much weight on one month’s set of house price data.

3. Price change

3.1 Annual price change

Annual price change for Scotland over the past 5 years

A chart showing the annual price change for Scotland over the past 5 years.

In Scotland, average prices increased by 1.6% in the year to August 2019 (up slightly from 1.5% in the year to July 2019).

Annual price change by local authority for Scotland

Low numbers of sales transactions in some local authorities, such as Orkney Islands, Na h-Eileanan Siar and Shetland Islands, can lead to volatility in the series.

While we make efforts to account for this volatility, the change in price in these local levels can be influenced by the type and number of properties sold in any given period.

Geographies with low number of sales transactions should be analysed in the context of their longer-term trends rather than focusing on monthly movements.

Local authorities August 2019 August 2018 Difference
Aberdeenshire £189,784 £187,534 1.2%
Angus £148,786 £144,997 2.6%
Argyll and Bute £143,148 £142,020 0.8%
City of Aberdeen £146,141 £159,333 -8.3%
City of Dundee £129,489 £125,910 2.8%
City of Edinburgh £265,894 £258,508 2.9%
City of Glasgow £137,970 £135,834 1.6%
Clackmannanshire £130,175 £124,972 4.2%
Dumfries and Galloway £128,836 £127,433 1.1%
East Ayrshire £100,507 £96,594 4.1%
East Dunbartonshire £223,564 £213,555 4.7%
East Lothian £223,846 £226,667 -1.2%
East Renfrewshire £232,975 £223,774 4.1%
Falkirk £126,421 £123,637 2.3%
Fife £134,409 £133,722 0.5%
Highland £169,090 £163,153 3.6%
Inverclyde £109,743 £110,103 -0.3%
Midlothian £184,980 £182,240 1.5%
Moray £148,756 £150,603 -1.2%
Na h-Eileanan Siar £121,867 £109,323 11.5%
North Ayrshire £107,780 £106,602 1.1%
North Lanarkshire £110,747 £106,904 3.6%
Orkney Islands £160,171 £149,381 7.2%
Perth and Kinross £195,712 £187,233 4.5%
Renfrewshire £122,668 £124,395 -1.4%
Scottish Borders £152,530 £151,772 0.5%
Shetland Islands £171,913 £163,295 5.3%
South Ayrshire £137,594 £139,504 -1.4%
South Lanarkshire £129,094 £126,958 1.7%
Stirling £188,883 £183,414 3.0%
West Dunbartonshire £109,241 £108,354 0.8%
West Lothian £165,556 £159,517 3.8%
Scotland £154,549 £152,138 1.6%

Average price by local authority for Scotland

A heat map showing the average price by local authority for Scotland.

In August 2019, the most expensive area to purchase a property was City of Edinburgh, where the average cost was £266,000. In contrast, the cheapest area to purchase a property was East Ayrshire, where the average cost was £101,000.

3.2 Average price change by property type

Average price change by property type for Scotland

Property type August 2019 August 2018 Difference
Detached £267,167 £260,331 2.6%
Semi-detached £161,491 £158,303 2.0%
Terraced £128,725 £126,566 1.7%
Flat or maisonette £110,958 £110,301 0.6%
All £154,549 £152,138 1.6%

4. Sales volumes

The amount of time between the sale of a property and the registration of this information varies. It typically ranges between 2 weeks and 2 months but can be longer. Volume figures for the most recent 2 months are not yet at a reliable level for reporting, so they are not included in the report. Published transactions for recent months will increase as later registered transactions are incorporated into the index.

Sales volume data is also available by property status (new build and existing property) and funding status (cash and mortgage) in our downloadable data tables. Transactions involving the creation of a new register, such as new builds, are more complex and require more time to process. Read Revisions to the UK HPI data for more information.

4.1 Sales volumes by local authority

Sales volumes for Scotland by local authority

Local authorities June 2019 June 2018
Aberdeenshire 407 377
Angus 179 216
Argyll and Bute 143 160
City of Aberdeen 365 451
City of Dundee 217 221
City of Edinburgh 1,046 1,251
City of Glasgow 993 1,134
Clackmannanshire 82 87
Dumfries and Galloway 217 233
East Ayrshire 187 201
East Dunbartonshire 193 206
East Lothian 233 237
East Renfrewshire 122 174
Falkirk 274 329
Fife 526 739
Highland 383 445
Inverclyde 120 160
Midlothian 189 221
Moray 122 124
Na h-Eileanan Siar 25 25
North Ayrshire 191 256
North Lanarkshire 527 557
Orkney Islands 33 32
Perth and Kinross 265 330
Renfrewshire 352 474
Scottish Borders 155 216
Shetland Islands 31 34
South Ayrshire 191 218
South Lanarkshire 664 781
Stirling 136 213
West Dunbartonshire 135 133
West Lothian 317 323
Scotland 9,020 10,558

Note: The ‘Difference’ column has been removed from this table as the latest month’s data are not yet complete.

The estimate for June 2019 is calculated based on around 98% of the final registered transactions in Scotland. The number of property transactions for June 2019 will increase as more transactions are incorporated into the index.

Comparing the provisional volume estimate for June 2018 with the provisional estimate for June 2019, volume transactions fell by 13.4% in Scotland.

UK Property Transaction Statistics published by HM Revenue & Customs (which differ in coverage but are more complete for this period) report that on a non-seasonally adjusted basis, volume transactions fell by 27.1% in Scotland in the year to June 2019.

4.2 Sales volumes

Sales volumes for Scotland over the past 5 years

Date Sales volumes for Scotland
June 2015 9,307
June 2016 8,782
June 2017 10,888
June 2018 10,558
June 2019 9,020

5. Property status

Transactions involving the creation of a new register, such as new builds, are more complex and need more time to process. This means they can take longer to appear in the land registers. The volume of new build transactions for the most recent two months are not at a reliable level for reporting the breakdown between new build and existing resold property, so they are not included in the report.

New build and existing resold property for Scotland

Property status Average price June 2019 Monthly change Annual change
New build £206,569 -0.1% 2.3%
Existing resold property £150,455 1.0% 1.6%

Note: Since the October 2017 release, amendments have been made to our estimation model when calculating our provisional estimate. Find out further information and the impact of this change in methods used to produce the UK HPI.

6. Buyer status

First time buyer and former owner occupier for Scotland

Type of buyer Average price August 2019 Monthly change Annual change
First time buyer £125,111 0.2% 1.3%
Former owner occupier £184,932 0.4% 1.9%

7. Funding status

Cash and mortgage indicator for Scotland

Funding status Average price August 2019 Monthly change Annual change
Cash £142,637 0.5% 1.6%
Mortgage £160,076 0.2% 1.6%

8. Access the data

Download the data as CSV files or access it with our UK HPI tool.

Data revisions

View any revisions to previously published data in the data downloads or find out more about revisions in our guidance About the UK HPI.

9. About the UK House Price Index

The UK House Price Index (UK HPI) is calculated by the Office for National Statistics and Land & Property Services Northern Ireland. Find out about the methodology used to create the UK HPI.

Data for the UK House Price Index is provided by HM Land Registry, Registers of Scotland, The Land & Property Services/Northern Ireland Statistics & Research Agency and the Valuation Office Agency.

Find out more about the UK House Price Index.

10. Contact for Scotland queries

Anne MacDonald, Land & Property Data Team, Registers of Scotland

Email Anne.MacDonald@ros.gov.uk

Telephone 0131 378 4991