Monthly House Price Index statistics for January 2019 published

Published: 20 March 2019

Average price of a property in Scotland up 1.3 per cent on previous year.

The latest publication of the monthly UK HPI shows that the average price of a property in Scotland in January 2019 was £149,036 – an increase of 1.3 per cent on January in the previous year and an increase of 0.6 per cent when compared to the previous month. This compares to a UK average of £228,147, which was an increase of 1.7 per cent on January in the previous year and a decrease of 0.8 per cent when compared to the previous month.

The volume of residential sales in Scotland in November 2018 was 9,992 – an increase of 16.6 per cent on November 2017 (a like-for-like comparison of the latest provisional estimate for November 2018 with the original provisional estimate for November 2017 as recorded before final figures became available). This compares to increases of 11.5 per cent in England, 16.4 per cent in Wales and 4.3 per cent in Northern Ireland (Quarter 4 – 2018).

Registers of Scotland Operations Director and Accountable Officer Janet Egdell said: “Average prices in Scotland continued their upward trend in January with an increase of 1.3 per cent when compared to January 2018. The average price has increased each month since March 2016, when compared with the same month of the previous year.

“The volume of residential sales in Scotland increased in November. This continues a recent turnaround following the downward trend seen in most months since November 2017, when compared with the same month of the previous year. From April to November 2018, the cumulative sales volume was 73,157. This is a decrease of 0.3 per cent on the equivalent year to date position in the previous financial year 2017-18.”

Average price increases were recorded in the majority (22) of local authorities in January 2019, when comparing prices with the previous year. The biggest price increases were in Midlothian and Perth and Kinross where average prices increased by 13.6 per cent to £187,264 and 7.2 per cent to £192,153 respectively. The largest decreases were recorded in Inverclyde and Aberdeen City, where average prices fell by 8.1 per cent to £89,865 and 7.9 per cent to £150,381 respectively.

Across Scotland, all property types showed an increase in average price in January 2019 when compared with the same month in the previous year. Flatted properties showed the biggest increase, rising by 1.8 per cent to £107,872. The average price of detached properties rose by 0.4 per cent to £256,726, the smallest increase of all property types.

The average price in January 2019 for a property purchased by a first time buyer was £120,887 – an increase of 1.8 per cent compared to the same month in the previous year. The average price for a property purchased by a former owner occupier was £177,938 – an increase of 0.8 per cent on the previous year.

The average price was £137,721 for a cash sale – an increase of 1.6 per cent on the previous year – while the average price for property purchased with a mortgage was £154,275 – an increase of 1.2 per cent on the previous year.

Notes to editors

  1. 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.
  2. For the full picture and detail, access the UK HPI and the HPI Scotland. 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. The UK HPI was designated as National Statistics by the Office for Statistics Regulation on 18 September 2018.
  4. 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.
  5. We have published the Quality Assurance of Administrative Data (QAAD) documents for each of the data sources used in the UK House Price Index.
  6. A comparison guide is available that compares the source data, index and methods of the different house price index measures that are published in the UK. This guide highlights the strengths and limitations of each measure to aid users in choosing the most appropriate index for their requirements.
  7. 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. Find out about the methodology used.
  8. Data for the UK House Price Index is provided by HM Land Registry, Registers of Scotland, Land & Property Services Northern Ireland and the Valuation Office Agency.
  9. 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.
  10. Download the data. Datasets are available as CSV files, or create your own reports using the UK HPI search tool.
  11. Registers of Scotland published our Calendar Year Residential Market Review 2018 earlier this month (5 March 2019). Our most recent Property Market Report (2007-08 to 2017-18), detailing trends in the land and property market over the reporting period, was published in June 2018. Details of all of our property statistics releases and future publication dates are available on our website.
  12. Registers of Scotland began compiling quarterly statistics on the housing market with the completion of the extension of the Land Register to all counties in Scotland in April 2003. The differences in methodology between our quarterly statistics and the HPI are highlighted in our guidance notes. A comparison of the two statistical outputs, which explains the key differences, is also available.
  13. Follow us on Twitter @RegistersOfScot, Facebook and LinkedIn. Sign up for our customer newsletter or data stats alert service.
  14. The UK HPI has been given an official seal of approval by the Bank of England. They have published an article confirming that, following its designation as a National Statistic, the UK HPI is their preferred measure of house price inflation. This is mainly due to a larger sample size of data used by the UK HPI, and less volatility than other measures of house prices. The UK HPI also has the benefits of allowing analysis at local authority level and by purchase type. This is a welcome affirmation of the value of the UK HPI.

Footnotes

  1. This publication covers statistics up to January 2018.↩
  2. All average prices reported from the UK HPI are geometric means, which will typically be closer to the median than the arithmetic mean.↩
  3. Average price estimates for the most recent months are provisional figures and are likely to change when more recent data are incorporated into the index. Revision policies can be accessed here.↩
  4. Due to there being a period of 2 to 8 weeks between completion and registration of sales, volume figures based on the month of date of entry are presented up to November because December and January figures are likely to change when more recent sales applications data are received.↩
  5. The final revised volume of sales in November 2017 was 8,711, which equates to an annual increase of 14.7 per cent in November 2018. However, the sales volume for November 2018 is still subject to revision, and will increase as later registered transactions are incorporated into the index.↩
  6. Na h-Eileanan Siar showed an increase of 20.4 per cent, and Shetland Islands showed a decrease of 13.2 per cent. Local authority areas where sales volumes within the 12 months to November 2018 represent less than 1 per cent of the all Scotland sales volume are excluded from the figures used for highlighting purposes due to the volatility of the market in these areas.↩

Media contact

Jacq Kelly
Press and public affairs manager
jacqueline.kelly@ros.gov.uk
07825 388 120