National statistics

UK House Price Index Scotland: July 2019

Published 18 September 2019

Applies to Scotland

1. Headline statistics for July 2019

the average price of a property in Scotland was

£153,968

the annual price change of a property in Scotland was

1.4%

the monthly price change of a property in Scotland was

0.7%

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

114.1

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 August 2019 UK HPI will be published at 9.30am on Wednesday 16 October 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 1.4% in the year to July 2019, down from 2.0% in the year to June 2019. Scotland house prices were growing faster than the UK annual rate of 0.7% in the year to July 2019. On a non-seasonally adjusted basis average house prices in Scotland increased by 0.7% between June 2019 and July 2019, compared with a rise of 1.2% during the same period a year earlier (June 2018 and July 2018). On a seasonally adjusted basis, average house prices in Scotland decreased by 0.4% between June 2019 and July 2019.

The UK Property Transaction Statistics showed that on a non-seasonally adjusted basis, in the 3 months to July 2019 the estimated number of transactions on residential properties with a value of £40,000 or greater in Scotland was 25,790. This is down 8.0% compared with the 3 months to July 2018.

In Scotland, detached houses showed the biggest increase, rising by 3.2% in the year to July 2019 to £266,000. The average price of flats and maisonettes fell by 0.4% in the year to July 2019 to £111,000.

House prices increased over the last year in 25 out of 32 local authority areas. The biggest average price increase was in East Dunbartonshire, where prices increased by 6.4% in the year to July 2019 to £223,000. The biggest fall was recorded in City of Aberdeen, where average prices fell over the year by 6.3% to £148,000.

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 1 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

The annual price change for Scotland from July 2015 to July 2019.

In Scotland, average prices increased by 1.4% in the year to July 2019 (down from 2.0% in the year to June 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 July 2019 July 2018 Difference
Aberdeenshire £188,734 £187,940 0.4%
Angus £151,873 £146,764 3.5%
Argyll and Bute £141,531 £138,884 1.9%
City of Aberdeen £148,151 £158,190 -6.3%
City of Dundee £128,617 £125,249 2.7%
City of Edinburgh £263,894 £255,999 3.1%
City of Glasgow £135,121 £132,094 2.3%
Clackmannanshire £130,051 £125,329 3.8%
Dumfries and Galloway £131,294 £123,509 6.3%
East Ayrshire £96,482 £95,212 1.3%
East Dunbartonshire £223,331 £209,832 6.4%
East Lothian £223,774 £225,068 -0.6%
East Renfrewshire £233,155 £223,966 4.1%
Falkirk £126,425 £121,522 4.0%
Fife £134,186 £134,050 0.1%
Highland £169,749 £160,124 6.0%
Inverclyde £109,307 £108,158 1.1%
Midlothian £188,340 £180,467 4.4%
Moray £152,755 £151,772 0.6%
Na h-Eileanan Siar £116,613 £108,665 7.3%
North Ayrshire £107,382 £107,384 0.0%
North Lanarkshire £108,356 £107,623 0.7%
Orkney Islands £151,523 £147,841 2.5%
Perth and Kinross £190,440 £184,960 3.0%
Renfrewshire £123,416 £124,178 -0.6%
Scottish Borders £148,366 £151,583 -2.1%
Shetland Islands £181,342 £178,588 1.5%
South Ayrshire £135,073 £140,930 -4.2%
South Lanarkshire £128,733 £127,153 1.2%
Stirling £192,354 £181,131 6.2%
West Dunbartonshire £105,614 £105,625 0.0%
West Lothian £163,552 £159,926 2.3%
Scotland £153,968 £151,777 1.4%

Average price by local authority for Scotland

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

In July 2019, the most expensive area to purchase a property was City of Edinburgh, where the average cost was £264,000. In contrast, the cheapest area to purchase a property was East Ayrshire, where the average cost was £96,000.

3.2 Average price change by property type

Average price change by property type for Scotland

Property type July 2019 July 2018 Difference
Detached £266,304 £257,986 3.2%
Semi-detached £160,258 £157,154 2.0%
Terraced £128,471 £125,856 2.1%
Flat or maisonette £110,607 £111,043 -0.4%
All £153,968 £151,777 1.4%

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 May 2019 May 2018
Aberdeenshire 356 313
Angus 196 160
Argyll and Bute 165 124
City of Aberdeen 361 341
City of Dundee 256 223
City of Edinburgh 1,090 900
City of Glasgow 1,111 941
Clackmannanshire 97 82
Dumfries and Galloway 243 194
East Ayrshire 184 177
East Dunbartonshire 168 147
East Lothian 201 178
East Renfrewshire 170 137
Falkirk 271 234
Fife 671 542
Highland 388 366
Inverclyde 135 105
Midlothian 157 139
Moray 174 158
Na h-Eileanan Siar 34 39
North Ayrshire 258 176
North Lanarkshire 582 434
Orkney Islands 33 29
Perth and Kinross 282 252
Renfrewshire 370 313
Scottish Borders 179 172
Shetland Islands 24 20
South Ayrshire 201 166
South Lanarkshire 605 538
Stirling 127 159
West Dunbartonshire 151 113
West Lothian 300 263
Scotland 9,540 8,135

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

The estimate for May 2019 is calculated based on around 85% of the final registered transactions. The number of property transactions for May 2019 will increase as more transactions are incorporated into the index.

Comparing the provisional volume estimate for May 2018 with the provisional estimate for May 2019, volume transactions increased by 19.4% 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 in Scotland increased by 18.3% in May 2019.

4.2 Sales volumes

Sales volumes for Scotland over the past 5 years

Date Sales volumes for Scotland
May 2015 8,569
May 2016 7,248
May 2017 8,529
May 2018 8,135
May 2019 9,540

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 May 2019 Monthly change Annual change
New build £208,357 -0.4% 4.2%
Existing resold property £148,981 0.6% 1.5%

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 July 2019 Monthly change Annual change
First time buyer £124,767 0.3% 1.0%
Former owner occupier £184,017 1.2% 2.0%

7. Funding status

Cash and mortgage indicator for Scotland

Funding status Average price July 2019 Monthly change Annual change
Cash £141,978 0.5% 1.2%
Mortgage £159,534 0.8% 1.5%

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