National statistics

UK House Price Index Scotland: December 2022

Published 15 February 2023

1. Headline statistics for December 2022

The average price of a property in Scotland was £187,224

The annual price change of a property in Scotland was 5.7%

The monthly price change of a property in Scotland was -2.9%

The index figure for Scotland (January 2015 = 100) was 138.7

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 January 2022 UK HPI will be published at 9.30am on Wednesday 22 March 2023. See the calendar of release dates for more information.

2. Economic statement

Average house prices in Scotland increased by 5.7% in the 12 months to December 2022, increasing slower than average UK house prices (9.8%) and down from 6.2% in the 12 months to November 2022.

On a non-seasonally adjusted basis, average house prices in Scotland decreased by 2.9% between November and December 2022, compared with a decrease of 2.5% during the same period 12 months ago. On a seasonally adjusted basis, average house prices in Scotland decreased by 1.4% between November and December 2022.

Comparing the provisional volume estimate for October 2021 provisional volume estimate for October 2021 with the provisional volume estimate for October 2022, the volume of transactions decreased by 12.5% in Scotland and increased by 77.3% in the UK.

In Scotland, detached houses showed the largest annual percentage change out of all property types, increasing by 8.8% in the 12 months to December 2022 to £343,000. Flats and maisonettes showed the lowest annual percentage change, which increased by 2.4% in the year to December 2022 to an average price of £126,000.

The highest annual percentage change was in Midlothian, where average house prices increased by 12.5% in the 12 months to December 2022 to £243,000. The lowest annual percentage change was in City of Aberdeen, where average house prices decreased by 4.0% in the 12 months to December 2022 to £139,000.

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

In Scotland, average prices increased by 5.7% in the 12 months to December 2022, down from an increase of 6.2% in the 12 months to November 2022.

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 December 2022 December 2021 Difference
Aberdeenshire £210,480 £196,129 7.3%
Angus £173,684 £166,712 4.2%
Argyll and Bute £197,200 £184,461 6.9%
City of Aberdeen £139,347 £145,218 -4.0%
City of Dundee £145,765 £141,647 2.9%
City of Edinburgh £329,797 £309,327 6.6%
City of Glasgow £175,622 £164,031 7.1%
Clackmannanshire £168,203 £153,016 9.9%
Dumfries and Galloway £166,415 £149,646 11.2%
East Ayrshire £129,016 £117,733 9.6%
East Dunbartonshire £259,555 £253,625 2.3%
East Lothian £317,707 £293,235 8.3%
East Renfrewshire £293,315 £266,452 10.1%
Falkirk £169,187 £151,716 11.5%
Fife £173,968 £165,215 5.3%
Highland £206,575 £196,230 5.3%
Inverclyde £124,993 £121,374 3.0%
Midlothian £242,603 £215,706 12.5%
Moray £187,568 £173,948 7.8%
Na h-Eileanan Siar £160,974 £143,097 12.5%
North Ayrshire £126,814 £125,267 1.2%
North Lanarkshire £139,330 £126,452 10.2%
Orkney Islands £221,996 £188,673 17.7%
Perth and Kinross £245,637 £228,223 7.6%
Renfrewshire £153,208 £144,907 5.7%
Scottish Borders £195,298 £190,489 2.5%
Shetland Islands £203,427 £176,036 15.6%
South Ayrshire £172,609 £167,716 2.9%
South Lanarkshire £165,918 £154,699 7.3%
Stirling £245,270 £233,078 5.2%
West Dunbartonshire £137,869 £126,819 8.7%
West Lothian £214,420 £195,062 9.9%
Scotland £187,224 £177,057 5.7%

Average price by local authority for Scotland

In December 2022, the most expensive area to purchase a property was City of Edinburgh, where the average cost was £330,000. In contrast, the cheapest area to purchase a property was Inverclyde, where the average cost was £125,000.

3.2 Average price change by property type

Average price change by property type for Scotland

Property type December 2022 December 2021 Difference
Detached £343,027 £315,138 8.8%
Semi-detached £201,053 £187,397 7.3%
Terraced £159,656 £149,634 6.7%
Flat or maisonette £125,571 £122,585 2.4%
All £187,224 £177,057 5.7%

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

Comparing the provisional volume estimate for the current month with the revised volume estimate for the corresponding month in the previous year

Local authorities October 2022 October 2021
Aberdeenshire 384 534
Angus 173 237
Argyll and Bute 174 192
City of Aberdeen 379 448
City of Dundee 223 316
City of Edinburgh 925 1,202
City of Glasgow 1,072 1,204
Clackmannanshire 96 81
Dumfries and Galloway 208 240
East Ayrshire 177 206
East Dunbartonshire 153 170
East Lothian 206 222
East Renfrewshire 157 164
Falkirk 225 249
Fife 578 661
Highland 393 416
Inverclyde 105 132
Midlothian 153 184
Moray 146 179
Na h-Eileanan Siar 39 38
North Ayrshire 222 300
North Lanarkshire 497 555
Orkney Islands 28 37
Perth and Kinross 315 326
Renfrewshire 331 421
Scottish Borders 176 225
Shetland Islands 29 29
South Ayrshire 209 208
South Lanarkshire 648 656
Stirling 169 152
West Dunbartonshire 109 133
West Lothian 246 312
Scotland 8,945 10,429

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

Note: The number of property transactions for October 2022 will increase as more transactions are incorporated into the index. See our Revisions Policy for more information.

Comparing the provisional volume estimate for October 2021 with the provisional estimate for October 2022, volume transactions decreased by 12.5% 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 decreased by 11.0% in Scotland in the 12 months to October 2022.

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 6.5% in Scotland in the year to September 2022.

4.2 Sales volumes

Sales volumes for Scotland over the past 5 years

Date Sales volumes for Scotland
October 2018 9,127
October 2019 9,456
October 2020 12,974
October 2021 10,429
October 2022 8,945

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 2 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 October 2022 Monthly change Annual change
New build £302,310 2.0% 17.2%
Existing resold property £186,987 0.4% 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 December 2022 Monthly change Annual change
First time buyer £149,548 -2.8% 5.2%
Former owner occupier £226,988 -3.0% 6.2%

7. Funding status

Cash and mortgage indicator for Scotland

Funding status Average price December 2022 Monthly change Annual change
Cash £169,853 -3.1% 4.5%
Mortgage £195,449 -2.8% 6.3%

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