National statistics

UK House Price Index Scotland: July 2021

Published 15 September 2021

Applies to Scotland

1. Headline statistics for July 2021

The average price of a property in Scotland was £177,166

The annual price change of a property in Scotland was 14.6%

The monthly price change of a property in Scotland was 2.0%

The index figure for Scotland (January 2015 = 100) was 131.3

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 2021 UK HPI will be published at 9.30am on Wednesday 20 October 2021. See the calendar of release dates for more information.

2. Economic statement

Scotland house prices increased by 14.6% in the year to July 2021, up from an increase of 11.8% in year to June 2021. Scotland house prices were growing faster than the UK annual rate of 8.0% in the year to July 2021. On a non-seasonally adjusted basis average house prices in Scotland increased by 2.0% between June and July 2021, compared with a decrease of 0.5% during the same period a year earlier (June and July 2020). On a seasonally adjusted basis, average house prices in Scotland have increased by 1.2% between June and July 2021.

Comparing the provisional volume estimate for May 2020 with the provisional estimate for May 2021, volume transactions increased by 171.6% in Scotland. UK volume transactions increased by 25.5% over the same period.

In Scotland, semi-detached houses showed the biggest increase out of all property types, rising by 16.3% in the year to July 2021 to £187,000. The lowest annual change of all property types was in flats and maisonettes, up by 12.5% in the year to July 2021 to £125,000.

House prices increased over the year in all 32 local authority areas. The largest growth was in Inverclyde (not including Orkney Islands and Shetland Islands) where prices increased by 29.0% in the year to July 2021 to £119,000. The lowest annual growth for the year ending July 2021, was recorded in Stirling where average prices increased over the year by 4.9% to £219,000.

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 14.6% in the year to July 2021, compared with an increase of 11.8% in the year to June 2021.

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 2021 July 2020 Difference
Aberdeenshire £193,078 £176,721 9.3%
Angus £157,026 £147,396 6.5%
Argyll and Bute £164,361 £138,538 18.6%
City of Aberdeen £148,431 £140,454 5.7%
City of Dundee £143,374 £125,473 14.3%
City of Edinburgh £309,227 £285,179 8.4%
City of Glasgow £158,450 £138,686 14.3%
Clackmannanshire £152,775 £134,624 13.5%
Dumfries and Galloway £145,315 £126,253 15.1%
East Ayrshire £109,985 £98,520 11.6%
East Dunbartonshire £235,970 £209,234 12.8%
East Lothian £271,067 £239,136 13.4%
East Renfrewshire £259,350 £222,624 16.5%
Falkirk £146,233 £129,313 13.1%
Fife £157,389 £135,910 15.8%
Highland £182,487 £168,895 8.0%
Inverclyde £119,168 £92,393 29.0%
Midlothian £210,931 £191,337 10.2%
Moray £167,503 £150,238 11.5%
Na h-Eileanan Siar £132,235 £121,152 9.1%
North Ayrshire £114,786 £108,262 6.0%
North Lanarkshire £127,823 £110,640 15.5%
Orkney Islands £183,297 £133,646 37.2%
Perth and Kinross £218,957 £196,829 11.2%
Renfrewshire £143,784 £121,565 18.3%
Scottish Borders £181,783 £149,655 21.5%
Shetland Islands £180,896 £127,617 41.7%
South Ayrshire £158,774 £140,563 13.0%
South Lanarkshire £147,653 £131,138 12.6%
Stirling £218,602 £208,410 4.9%
West Dunbartonshire £125,311 £115,175 8.8%
West Lothian £187,122 £166,181 12.6%
Scotland £177,166 £154,582 14.6%

Average price by local authority for Scotland

In July 2021, the most expensive area to purchase a property was City of Edinburgh, where the average cost was £309,000. In contrast, the cheapest area to purchase a property was East Ayrshire, where the average cost was £110,000.

3.2 Average price change by property type

Average price change by property type for Scotland

Property type July 2021 July 2020 Difference
Detached £311,997 £269,893 15.6%
Semi-detached £187,181 £160,910 16.3%
Terraced £148,151 £128,358 15.4%
Flat or maisonette £124,517 £110,668 12.5%
All £177,166 £154,582 14.6%

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 2021 May 2020
Aberdeenshire 455 150
Angus 202 98
Argyll and Bute 135 49
City of Aberdeen 356 129
City of Dundee 268 97
City of Edinburgh 930 335
City of Glasgow 977 324
Clackmannanshire 69 40
Dumfries and Galloway 216 76
East Ayrshire 171 83
East Dunbartonshire 140 57
East Lothian 176 59
East Renfrewshire 148 33
Falkirk 244 108
Fife 541 270
Highland 326 152
Inverclyde 124 49
Midlothian 150 73
Moray 116 41
Na h-Eileanan Siar 39 7
North Ayrshire 198 78
North Lanarkshire 413 194
Orkney Islands 29 14
Perth and Kinross 261 106
Renfrewshire 298 122
Scottish Borders 175 80
Shetland Islands 19 7
South Ayrshire 188 73
South Lanarkshire 543 201
Stirling 128 58
West Dunbartonshire 132 45
West Lothian 212 128
Scotland 8,379 3,336

Note: The number of property transactions for May 2021 will increase as more transactions are incorporated into the index. See our Revisions Policy for more information.

Comparing the provisional volume estimate for May 2020 with the provisional estimate for May 2021, volume transactions increased by 171.6% 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 155.3% in Scotland in the year to May 2021.

4.2 Sales volumes

Sales volumes for Scotland over the past 5 years

Date Sales volumes for Scotland
May 2017 8,529
May 2018 8,135
May 2019 9,695
May 2020 3,336
May 2021 8,379

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 May 2021 Monthly change Annual change
New build £251,563 4.2% 15.4%
Existing resold property £165,758 4.9% 10.7%

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 2021 Monthly change Annual change
First time buyer £142,164 1.9% 14.5%
Former owner occupier £213,860 2.1% 14.6%

7. Funding status

Cash and mortgage indicator for Scotland

Funding status Average price July 2021 Monthly change Annual change
Cash £161,975 2.1% 14.3%
Mortgage £184,305 2.0% 14.8%

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