Monthly UK House Price Index figures released for February 2019.
Three key figures for February:
- £145,762
The average price of a property in Scotland - -0.2%
The annual price change of a property in Scotland - -3.1%
The monthly price change of a property in Scotland
The latest statistics from the UK House Price Index (HPI) show that the average price of a property in Scotland in February 2019 was £145,762 – a decrease of 0.2% on February in the previous year.
This is the first annual decrease in the average price of a property in Scotland since March 2016. Comparing with the previous month, house prices in Scotland fell by 3.1% between January 2019 and February 2019.
The UK average house price was £226,234, which was an increase of 0.6% on February in the previous year and a decrease of 0.8% on the previous month.
The volume of residential sales in Scotland in December 2018 was 7,392 – a decrease of 8.2% on the original provisional estimate for December 2017. This compares with decreases of 2.0% in England and 5.1% in Wales, and an increase of 4.3% in Northern Ireland (Quarter 4 – 2018).
Commenting on the release, Accountable Officer, Janet Egdell said:
The average price of a property in Scotland in February 2019 signalled the first annual decrease since March 2016, falling by 0.2% in the year to February 2019. Prices increased in around two thirds of local authority areas and different property types showed a mixed picture, indicating that the market is highly variable across the country in this time of uncertainty.
Average price increases were recorded in the majority (22) of local authorities, when comparing prices with the previous year.
The biggest price increases were in Midlothian and Perth and Kinross where average prices increased by 9.9 per cent to £185,753 and 8.8 per cent to £192,631 respectively.
The largest decreases were recorded in Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire, where average prices fell by 7.0 per cent to £149,435 and 5.8 per cent to £180,862 respectively.
Local authority estimates are based on a three month moving average to reduce volatility.
Further information on HPI Scotland by local authority, property type, first time buyers and cash sales can be found in the latest HPI Scotland publication.
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.
Notes to editors
- Registers of Scotland is the government department responsible for compiling and maintaining registers relating to property and other legal documents in Scotland. Registers of Scotland records and safeguards the rights of the individual while providing open access to information on the registers.
- The UK HPI is published on the second or third Wednesday of each month with Northern Ireland figures updated quarterly. See the calendar of release dates.
- The statistics have been produced in accordance with the Code of Practice for Statistics. The UK House Price Index is calculated by the Office for National Statistics and Land & Property Services Northern Ireland. The UK HPI was designated as National Statistics by the Office for Statistics Regulation on 18 September 2018.
- Registers of Scotland provides data on residential property sales for the Scotland element of the UK House Price Index. Separate HPI releases are also published by HM Land Registry and Land & Property Services Northern Ireland, which focus on the figures for England and Wales and for Northern Ireland. The Office for National Statistics also publishes a monthly HPI statistical bulletin with commentary on the whole of the UK.
- Details of all of our property statistics releases and future publication dates are available on our website. A comparison guide comparing the different house price index measures that are published in the UK is also available.
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