Official Statistics

UK House Price Index Scotland: May 2018

Published 18 July 2018

Applies to Scotland

1. Headline statistics in May 2018

the average price of a property in Scotland was

£149,004

the annual price change of a property in Scotland was

4.9%

the monthly price change of a property in Scotland was

0.1%

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 June 2018 UK HPI will be published at 9.30am on Wednesday 15 August 2018. See the calendar of release dates.

2. Economic statement

Scotland house prices grew by 4.9% in the year to May 2018, down from 5.5% in the year to April 2018. Scotland house prices are growing quicker than the UK annual rate of 3.0% in the year to May 2018. On a seasonally adjusted basis, average house prices in Scotland decreased by 0.2% between April 2018 and May 2018, compared with a decrease of 0.1% during the same period a year earlier (April 2017 and May 2017).

The UK Property Transaction Statistics for May 2018 showed that on a non-seasonally adjusted basis, in Q1 2018, the number of transactions on residential properties with a value of £40,000 or greater in Scotland was 18,370. This is down 14.9% compared to Q1 2017.

In Scotland, all property types showed an increase in average price in May 2018 when compared with the same month in the previous year. Terraced houses showed the biggest increase, rising by 5.6% in the year to May 2018 to £123,000. The average price of Flats and maisonettes showed an increase of 4.6% in the year to May to £108,000, the smallest increase of all property types.

House prices have increased over the last year in 26 out of 32 local authority areas. West Dunbartonshire continues to show strong growth increasing by 12.9% in the year to May 2018 to £105,000. This was closely followed by City of Edinburgh where prices increased by 9.9% 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 4.9% in the year to May 2018 (down from 5.5% in the year to April 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 May 2018 May 2017 Difference
Aberdeenshire £190,115 £197,404 -3.7%
Angus £141,211 £142,179 -0.7%
Argyll and Bute £144,552 £132,536 9.1%
City of Aberdeen £158,706 £163,656 -3.0%
City of Dundee £121,580 £115,355 5.4%
City of Edinburgh £251,371 £228,787 9.9%
City of Glasgow £126,529 £118,640 6.6%
Clackmannanshire £118,526 £115,595 2.5%
Dumfries and Galloway £124,599 £117,049 6.5%
East Ayrshire £94,185 £92,231 2.1%
East Dunbartonshire £207,139 £198,344 4.4%
East Lothian £218,482 £202,473 7.9%
East Renfrewshire £225,310 £206,087 9.3%
Falkirk £120,908 £112,712 7.3%
Fife £133,311 £125,268 6.4%
Highland £161,170 £153,071 5.3%
Inverclyde £102,430 £105,940 -3.3%
Midlothian £177,567 £163,644 8.5%
Moray £150,791 £145,364 3.7%
Na h-Eileanan Siar £106,073 £85,910 23.5%
North Ayrshire £103,744 £97,300 6.6%
North Lanarkshire £109,335 £100,142 9.2%
Orkney Islands £139,279 £141,594 -1.6%
Perth and Kinross £179,277 £182,775 -1.9%
Renfrewshire £119,207 £112,415 6.0%
Scottish Borders £147,767 £146,474 0.9%
Shetland Islands £199,624 £145,511 37.2%
South Ayrshire £135,167 £129,132 4.7%
South Lanarkshire £124,398 £120,223 3.5%
Stirling £179,158 £168,331 6.4%
West Dunbartonshire £104,989 £93,022 12.9%
West Lothian £155,572 £142,655 9.1%
Scotland £149,004 £142,070 4.9%

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 May 2018, the most expensive area to live in was City of Edinburgh, where the cost of an average house was £251,000. In contrast, the cheapest area to purchase a property was East Ayrshire, where an average house cost £94,000.

3.2 Average price change by property type

Average price change by property type for Scotland

Property type May 2018 May 2017 Difference
Detached £255,133 £243,614 4.7%
Semi-detached £154,921 £147,833 4.8%
Terraced £123,277 £116,733 5.6%
Flat or maisonette £108,414 £103,629 4.6%
All £149,004 £142,070 4.9%

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 March 2018 March 2017 Difference
Aberdeenshire 289 411 -29.7%
Angus 162 164 -1.2%
Argyll and Bute 145 169 -14.2%
City of Aberdeen 355 392 -9.4%
City of Dundee 188 223 -15.7%
City of Edinburgh 783 1,032 -24.1%
City of Glasgow 937 1,203 -22.1%
Clackmannanshire 55 93 -40.9%
Dumfries and Galloway 203 217 -6.5%
East Ayrshire 158 215 -26.5%
East Dunbartonshire 140 177 -20.9%
East Lothian 156 189 -17.5%
East Renfrewshire 134 162 -17.3%
Falkirk 258 308 -16.2%
Fife 551 653 -15.6%
Highland 395 380 3.9%
Inverclyde 92 123 -25.2%
Midlothian 125 165 -24.2%
Moray 120 152 -21.1%
Na h-Eileanan Siar 19 43 -55.8%
North Ayrshire 176 202 -12.9%
North Lanarkshire 431 491 -12.2%
Orkney Islands 34 33 3.0%
Perth and Kinross 248 268 -7.5%
Renfrewshire 317 337 -5.9%
Scottish Borders 157 199 -21.1%
Shetland Islands 17 23 -26.1%
South Ayrshire 156 184 -15.2%
South Lanarkshire 561 604 -7.1%
Stirling 131 152 -13.8%
West Dunbartonshire 118 115 2.6%
West Lothian 250 285 -12.3%
Scotland 7,861 9,364 -16.1%

4.2 Sales volumes

Sales volumes for Scotland over the past 5 years

Date Sales volumes for Scotland
March 2014 6,938
March 2015 7,576
March 2016 11,017
March 2017 9,364
March 2018 7,861

5. Property status

New build and existing resold property for Scotland

Property status Average price March 2018 Monthly change Annual change
New build £202,487 -2.2% 8.3%
Existing resold property £142,703 -0.2% 5.8%

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 May 2018 Monthly change Annual change
First time buyer £121,183 0.1% 5.0%
Former owner occupier £177,349 0.1% 4.7%

7. Funding status

Cash and mortgage indicator for Scotland

Funding status Average price May 2018 Monthly change Annual change
Cash £137,790 0.3% 4.8%
Mortgage £154,195 0.0% 4.9%

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