Official Statistics

UK House Price Index Scotland: March 2018

Published 23 May 2018

Applies to Scotland

1. Headline statistics in March 2018

the average price of a property in Scotland was

£146,009

the annual price change of a property in Scotland was

6.7%

the monthly price change of a property in Scotland was

0.5%

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

108.2

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 April 2018 UK HPI will be published at 9.30am on Wednesday 13 June 2018. See the calendar of release dates.

2. Economic statement

Scotland house prices grew by 6.7% in the year to March 2018, down from 6.8% in the year to February 2018. Scotland house prices grew more quickly than the UK annual rate of 4.2% in the year to March 2018.

On a seasonally adjusted basis, average house prices in Scotland increased by 0.3% between March 2018 and February 2018, compared with an increase of 0.4% during the same period a year earlier.

The UK Property Transaction Statistics for March 2018 showed that on a non-seasonally adjusted basis, the number of transactions on residential properties with a value of £40,000 or greater in Scotland is 17.0% lower compared with a year ago. Between February 2018 and March 2018, transactions increased by 39.5%.

Across Scotland, all property types showed an increase in average price in March 2018 when compared with the same month in the previous year. Terraced houses showed the biggest increase, rising by 7.6% in the year to March 2018 to £122,000. The average price of flats and maisonettes showed an increase of 5.9% in the year to March to £104,000, the smallest increase of all property types.

House prices have increased over the last year in 27 out of 32 local authority areas. The local authority showing the largest annual growth in the year to March 2018 was Falkirk, where prices increased by 12.7% to stand at £124,000. This was closely followed by City of Edinburgh where prices increased by 12.5% over the year.

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 6.7% in the year to March 2018 (down from 6.8% in the year to February 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 March 2018 March 2017 Difference
Aberdeenshire £193,243 £187,332 3.2%
Angus £141,786 £136,315 4.0%
Argyll and Bute £138,303 £125,301 10.4%
City of Aberdeen £160,464 £163,840 -2.1%
City of Dundee £115,846 £115,873 0.0%
City of Edinburgh £252,992 £224,861 12.5%
City of Glasgow £124,032 £115,148 7.7%
Clackmannanshire £124,765 £111,904 11.5%
Dumfries and Galloway £128,472 £117,750 9.1%
East Ayrshire £94,999 £86,907 9.3%
East Dunbartonshire £205,808 £196,410 4.8%
East Lothian £214,953 £193,660 11.0%
East Renfrewshire £220,679 £204,754 7.8%
Falkirk £123,800 £109,805 12.7%
Fife £132,845 £124,576 6.6%
Highland £159,196 £155,334 2.5%
Inverclyde £97,924 £99,283 -1.4%
Midlothian £172,809 £155,863 10.9%
Moray £149,470 £141,844 5.4%
Na h-Eileanan Siar £102,539 £105,948 -3.2%
North Ayrshire £99,254 £94,462 5.1%
North Lanarkshire £103,521 £96,563 7.2%
Orkney Islands £142,177 £132,437 7.4%
Perth and Kinross £175,628 £174,859 0.4%
Renfrewshire £117,595 £108,905 8.0%
Scottish Borders £147,106 £136,596 7.7%
Shetland Islands £153,458 £157,396 -2.5%
South Ayrshire £133,405 £130,077 2.6%
South Lanarkshire £125,997 £120,944 4.2%
Stirling £173,330 £168,712 2.7%
West Dunbartonshire £104,305 £93,327 11.8%
West Lothian £153,550 £137,042 12.0%
Scotland £146,009 £136,891 6.7%

All sales received for registration with an entry date (date of ownership of the property) within the report date range are now allocated to a local authority where previously sales not allocated to a local authority were omitted in the reports. We will monitor the impact of this over the coming months.

Average price by local authority for Scotland

Average price by local authority for Scotland

In March 2018, the most expensive area to live in was City of Edinburgh, where the cost of an average house was £253,000. In contrast, the cheapest area to purchase a property was East Ayrshire, where an average house cost £95,000.

3.2 Average price change by property type

Average price change by property type for Scotland

Property type March 2018 March 2017 Difference
Detached £254,661 £238,716 6.7%
Semi-detached £152,657 £142,804 6.9%
Terraced £121,637 £113,009 7.6%
Flat or maisonette £104,160 £98,339 5.9%
All £146,009 £136,891 6.7%

4. Sales volumes

Due to a period of 2 to 8 weeks between completion and registration of sales, 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.

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 January 2018 January 2017 Difference
Aberdeenshire 216 287 -24.7%
Angus 113 130 -13.1%
Argyll and Bute 92 112 -17.9%
City of Aberdeen 191 255 -25.1%
City of Dundee 168 165 1.8%
City of Edinburgh 733 783 -6.4%
City of Glasgow 740 714 3.6%
Clackmannanshire 46 67 -31.3%
Dumfries and Galloway 152 145 4.8%
East Ayrshire 128 115 11.3%
East Dunbartonshire 134 151 -11.3%
East Lothian 112 146 -23.3%
East Renfrewshire 104 110 -5.5%
Falkirk 189 200 -5.5%
Fife 394 399 -1.3%
Highland 273 287 -4.9%
Inverclyde 79 78 1.3%
Midlothian 104 116 -10.3%
Moray 86 128 -32.8%
Na h-Eileanan Siar 18 24 -25.0%
North Ayrshire 126 142 -11.3%
North Lanarkshire 286 312 -8.3%
Orkney Islands 25 20 25.0%
Perth and Kinross 158 184 -14.1%
Renfrewshire 220 220 0.0%
Scottish Borders 105 116 -9.5%
Shetland Islands 18 23 -21.7%
South Ayrshire 134 143 -6.3%
South Lanarkshire 388 406 -4.4%
Stirling 121 100 21.0%
West Dunbartonshire 66 71 -7.0%
West Lothian 190 231 -17.7%
Scotland 5,909 6,380 -7.4%

4.2 Sales volumes

Sales volumes for Scotland over the past 5 years

Date Sales volumes for Scotland
January 2014 6,493
January 2015 6,189
January 2016 6,118
January 2017 6,380
January 2018 5,909

5. Property status

New build and existing resold property for Scotland

Property status Average price January 2018 Monthly change Annual change
New build £206,663 4.6% 8.5%
Existing resold property £144,952 1.1% 6.4%

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 March 2018 Monthly change Annual change
First time buyer £117,837 0.7% 6.2%
Former owner occupier £175,306 0.4% 7.1%

7. Funding status

Cash and mortgage indicator for Scotland

Funding status Average price March 2018 Monthly change Annual change
Cash £134,530 0.5% 6.2%
Mortgage £151,344 0.5% 6.9%

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