House prices in Scotland continue steep rise
The latest provisional statistics show that the average price of a property in Scotland in March 2021 was £166,566.
The figure revealed in the UK HPI (House Price Index) is an increase of 10.6 per cent on the same month last year.
Comparing with the previous month, house prices in Scotland increased by 2.8 per cent between February 2021 and March 2021.
The UK average house price was £256,405 which was an increase of 10.2 per cent on March 2020 and 1.8 per cent on the previous month.
The volume of residential sales in Scotland in January 2021 was 7,562, an increase of 10.2 per cent on the original provisional estimate for January 2020.
This compares with increases of 5.7 per cent in England, and 11.0 per cent in Wales, and 41.8 per cent in Northern Ireland.
HPI Business Development Director Janet Egdell said: “Over the year as a whole from April 2020 to end January 2021, volumes have picked up and cumulatively are now around 86 per cent of levels in the previous year.
"Average house prices have remained strong over the last year, April 2020 to March 2021.
"In terms of property types Flats have seen the lowest annual percentage increases at 7.6 per cent, and terraced houses the biggest increase rising by 13.3 per cent.”
In Scotland, terraced properties showed the largest increase, rising by 13.3 per cent in the year to March 2021 to £142,374.
Flatted properties showed the smallest increase, rising by 7.6 per cent in the year to March 2021 to £116,357.
Average price increases were recorded in 31 local authorities, when comparing prices with the previous year. The largest increase was in South Ayrshire where the average price increased by 16.0 per cent to £152,894.
The only fall was recorded in Aberdeen City, where the average price decreased by 0.6 per cent to £140,357.
In March 2021, the highest-priced area to purchase a property was City of Edinburgh, where the average price was £285,867.
In contrast, the lowest-priced area to purchase a property was East Ayrshire, where the average price was £104,336.
A UK HPI spokespers on said: "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.
"This has been particularly important over recent months, as Covid-19 has affected the volume of transactions within the market, making trends between months more volatile than usual and will continue to be important over the coming months as the ongoing impact of coronavirus on the housing market and the economy becomes clear."
