National statistics

UK House Price Index Scotland: January 2019

Published 20 March 2019

Applies to England and Scotland

1. Headline statistics in January 2019

the average price of a property in Scotland was

£149,036

the annual price change of a property in Scotland was

1.3%

the monthly price change of a property in Scotland was

0.6%

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

110.4

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 February 2019 UK HPI will be published at 9.30am on Wednesday 17 April 2019. See the calendar of release dates.

2. Economic statement

Scotland house prices grew by 1.3% in the year to January 2019, down from 2.0% in the year to December 2018. Scotland house prices were growing slower than the UK annual rate of 1.7% in the year to January 2019. On a non-seasonally adjusted basis average house prices in Scotland increased by 0.6% between December 2018 and January 2019, compared with an increase of 1.3% during the same period a year earlier (December 2017 and January 2018). On a seasonally adjusted basis, average house prices in Scotland increased by 0.2% between December 2018 and January 2019.

The UK Property Transaction Statistics showed that on a non-seasonally adjusted basis, in the 3 months to January 2019 the number of transactions on residential properties with a value of £40,000 or greater in Scotland was 24,890. This is up 6.9% compared with the 3 months to January 2018.

In Scotland, all property types showed an increase in average price in January 2019 when compared with the same month in the previous year. Flats and maisonettes showed the biggest increase, rising by 1.8% in the year to January 2019 to £108,000. The smallest increase of all property types was detached houses, with an increase of 0.4% in the year to January 2019 to £257,000.

House prices increased over the last year in 22 out of 32 local authority areas. The biggest price increase was in Midlothian, where prices increased by 13.6% in the year to January 2019 to £187,000. The largest fall was recorded in Inverclyde, where average prices fell over the year by 8.1% to £90,000.

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

Annual price change for Scotland over the past 5 years

In Scotland, the average price increased by 1.3% in the year to January 2019 (down from 2.0% in the year to December 2018).

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 January 2019 January 2018 Difference
Aberdeenshire £184,466 £192,006 -3.9%
Angus £140,043 £143,764 -2.6%
Argyll and Bute £141,289 £142,615 -0.9%
City of Aberdeen £150,381 £163,270 -7.9%
City of Dundee £121,905 £118,358 3.0%
City of Edinburgh £260,758 £245,914 6.0%
City of Glasgow £128,810 £127,137 1.3%
Clackmannanshire £125,249 £119,454 4.9%
Dumfries and Galloway £126,310 £125,171 0.9%
East Ayrshire £100,496 £93,978 6.9%
East Dunbartonshire £204,098 £212,118 -3.8%
East Lothian £222,212 £215,916 2.9%
East Renfrewshire £223,406 £215,094 3.9%
Falkirk £122,229 £118,873 2.8%
Fife £134,635 £130,071 3.5%
Highland £165,746 £157,947 4.9%
Inverclyde £89,865 £97,733 -8.1%
Midlothian £187,264 £164,898 13.6%
Moray £149,829 £147,537 1.6%
Na h-Eileanan Siar £113,918 £94,596 20.4%
North Ayrshire £103,962 £101,204 2.7%
North Lanarkshire £105,280 £103,919 1.3%
Orkney Islands £148,767 £138,932 7.1%
Perth and Kinross £192,153 £179,242 7.2%
Renfrewshire £120,326 £121,826 -1.2%
Scottish Borders £144,138 £154,601 -6.8%
Shetland Islands £149,703 £172,371 -13.2%
South Ayrshire £132,846 £133,934 -0.8%
South Lanarkshire £128,158 £125,997 1.7%
Stirling £181,173 £170,742 6.1%
West Dunbartonshire £107,916 £105,915 1.9%
West Lothian £162,284 £153,303 5.9%
Scotland £149,036 £147,112 1.3%

Average price by local authority for Scotland

Average price by local authority for Scotland

In January 2019, the most expensive area to live in was City of Edinburgh, where the cost of an average house was £261,000. In contrast, the cheapest area to purchase a property was Inverclyde where an average house cost £90,000.

3.2 Average price change by property type

Average price change by property type for Scotland

Property type January 2019 January 2018 Difference
Detached £256,726 £255,651 0.4%
Semi-detached £155,010 £153,535 1.0%
Terraced £123,475 £121,389 1.7%
Flat or maisonette £107,872 £105,932 1.8%
All £149,036 £147,112 1.3%

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 two 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 November 2018 November 2017
Aberdeenshire 408 325
Angus 180 182
Argyll and Bute 170 155
City of Aberdeen 367 316
City of Dundee 240 227
City of Edinburgh 1,070 1,043
City of Glasgow 1,179 985
Clackmannanshire 103 70
Dumfries and Galloway 263 231
East Ayrshire 207 198
East Dunbartonshire 184 175
East Lothian 227 170
East Renfrewshire 182 159
Falkirk 289 245
Fife 661 553
Highland 393 406
Inverclyde 130 78
Midlothian 162 165
Moray 174 152
Na h-Eileanan Siar 26 29
North Ayrshire 256 216
North Lanarkshire 591 462
Orkney Islands 37 40
Perth and Kinross 301 260
Renfrewshire 389 294
Scottish Borders 242 204
Shetland Islands 26 19
South Ayrshire 224 209
South Lanarkshire 703 572
Stirling 135 145
West Dunbartonshire 161 162
West Lothian 312 264
Scotland 9,992 8,711

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

The estimate for November 2018 is calculated based on around 85% of the final registered transactions. The number of property transactions for November 2018 will increase as more transactions are incorporated into the index.

Comparing the provisional volume estimate for November 2017 with the provisional estimate for November 2018, volume transactions increased by 16.6% 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 increased by 15.5% in Scotland in the year to November 2018.

4.2 Sales volumes

Sales volumes for Scotland over the past 5 years

Date Sales volumes for Scotland
November 2014 8,576
November 2015 8,877
November 2016 8,734
November 2017 8,711
November 2018 9,992

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 November 2018 Monthly change Annual change
New build £203,793 -3.5% 4.0%
Existing resold property £147,919 -0.7% 2.3%

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 January 2019 Monthly change Annual change
First time buyer £120,887 0.2% 1.8%
Former owner occupier £177,938 1.1% 0.8%

7. Funding status

Cash and mortgage indicator for Scotland

Funding status Average price January 2019 Monthly change Annual change
Cash £137,721 0.7% 1.6%
Mortgage £154,275 0.6% 1.2%

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