The Scottish Government has developed Scottish Island Regions – a new geography for grouping Scotland’s islands into nine different island regions. In this report, Registers of Scotland use data from the land register to explore trends in house prices in these regions and compares them with urban and rural areas across Scotland.
Key points:
- The median price of properties in the island regions as a whole was slightly lower than the median for Scotland, with £182,000 across the island regions in 2023 compared to £185,000 for all Scotland.
- There were significant differences in prices between different island regions, ranging from a median of £135,000 in Shetland Outer Islands to Highland Islands at £249,000 in 2023.
- The percentage growth in prices in the past five years was higher for the island regions than for mainland Scotland, with a 30% increase (from £140,000 in 2018 to £182,000 in 2023) across the Islands, compared to 23% for mainland Scotland (from £151,000 to £185,000) over the same period.
Map of Scottish Island regions 2023
Overview of residential property sales
Table 1 shows the population of each island region, along with the number of residential property sales in 2023, the median price of sales and the percentage of sales that were not funded with a mortgage. It also provides a comparison with the totals for the rest of Scotland.
Table 1: Median price, volume and % of cash sales of all residential market value property sales by Scottish Island region in 2023
| Scottish Island region | Population (NRS 2021 estimates)* | Number of residential property sales | Median price | % Cash sales |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Argyll Islands | 8,153 | 121 | £215,000 | 66% |
| Arran, Bute and the Cumbraes | 11,944 | 310 | £151,000 | 75% |
| Highland Islands | 10,697 | 154 | £249,000 | 58% |
| Lewis and Harris, Great Bernera and Scalpa | 20,649 | 236 | £145,000 | 53% |
| Orkney - Mainland and connected | 19,752 | 273 | £203,000 | 44% |
| Orkney - Outer islands | 2,788 | 66 | £150,000 | 74% |
| Shetland - Mainland and connected | 20,333 | 205 | £186,000 | 39% |
| Shetland - Outer islands | 2,607 | 27 | £135,000 | 70% |
| The Uists and Barra islands | 5,991 | 59 | £185,000 | 63% |
| Scottish Island region total | 102,914 | 1,451 | £182,000 | 57% |
| Scotland mainland | 5,376,986 | 92,262 | £185,000 | 37% |
*NRS - Scottish Parliamentary Constituency (SPC) Population Estimates (2011 Data Zone based)
Volume of sales
There were 1,451 residential sales in the Scottish island regions, comprising less than 2% of all sales in Scotland.
Median prices
The median price of sales across the island regions as a whole was £182,000 compared with £185,000 for all Scotland. There were significant differences between the island regions, ranging from a median of £135,000 in Shetland Outer Islands to Highland Islands at £249,000.
Cash and mortgage sales**
Looking at differences in the number of cash and mortgage sales, across mainland Scotland 63% of residential sales were funded with a mortgage in 2023 and 37% were cash sales. In the Scottish Island regions, the percentage of cash sales is higher, with 57% cash sales and 43% with a mortgage. Table 1 shows the percentage cash sales for each island region, ranging from 39% in Shetland - Mainland and connected to 75% in Arran, Bute and the Cumbraes.
**Information on methods used to identify cash and mortgage sales can be found in our guidance document.
Change in prices in last 5 years
Median prices across the island regions have increased by 30% from £140,000 in 2018 to £182,000 in 2023. This compares with an increase of 23% over the same period in mainland Scotland, from £151,000 to £185,000.
Change in prices since 2004
Between 2004 (the first calendar year that Registers of Scotland holds data for) and 2023, median prices in the island regions grew at a faster rate than prices for mainland Scotland:
- Scottish island regions median increased from £65,000 in 2004 to £182,000 in 2023
- mainland Scotland median increased from £86,400 in 2004 to £185,000 in 2023
The island regions Charts 1-10 show the trends in median residential prices over time since 2004, along with the upper and lower quartiles to indicate the spread of prices. The prices can be seen to fluctuate from year to year for islands with a small number of property sales, and it is therefore best to focus on the general trend over several years.
View all of the chart data in PDF format PDF, 439.91 KB
Comparisons with Urban Rural classification across mainland Scotland
The chart below shows the volume of sales in each island region split into the Scottish Government Urban Rural 6 Classification (see endnote for full description). It shows that most residential sales in the island regions are in remote rural areas, with four regions also having sales in remote small towns.
Chart 11: Volume of residential property sales in Scottish Island regions, UR6, 2023
Table 2 below splits residential property sales in 2023 into Urban Rural 6 classification and compares island sales with sales for mainland Scotland and Scotland as a whole.
Table 2: Comparison of Island Region, Scotland mainland, and all Scotland, median price and volume of residential sales
| 2023 | All Islands Median | Volume | Scotland mainland Median | Volume | All Scotland Median | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Large urban areas | 188,000 | 34,823 | 188,000 | 34,823 | ||
| Other urban areas | 150,000 | 30,268 | 150,000 | 30,268 | ||
| Accessible small towns | 180,000 | 7,511 | 180,000 | 7,511 | ||
| Remote small towns | 150,000 | 336 | 150,000 | 1,934 | 150,000 | 2,270 |
| Accessible rural areas | 268,000 | 13,881 | 268,000 | 13,881 | ||
| Remote rural areas | 195,000 | 1,110 | 220,000 | 3,834 | 210,000 | 4,944 |
Focusing on two areas that show Island region sales, Table 2 shows that in 2023:
- In remote small towns
- 15% of residential sales in remote small towns in Scotland were in the Island Regions
- the median price was £150,000 for the Island Regions, which is the same as the median for Scotland mainland for remote small towns
- In remote rural areas
- 22% of residential sales in remote rural areas in Scotland were in Island Regions
- the median price was £195,000 for Island Regions and £220,000 for mainland Scotland remote rural areas.
When comparing urban and rural areas it is worth noting that average house prices can be affected by the differing mix of property available in urban and rural areas. Urban areas generally have a larger proportion of sales in flats, and rural areas have more detached houses; this affects the average price for the area since flats tend to be cheaper than detached houses.
Chart 12 below shows median prices from 2016 to 2023 for the Island Regions compared with mainland Scotland split by remote small towns and remote rural areas; and a comparison with the ‘all Scotland’ median.
The chart shows that median residential property prices for Island remote rural areas have been consistently lower than the median for mainland Scotland remote rural areas between 2016 and 2023. The median for Island remote small towns has been close to the median for remote small towns on the Scottish mainland over the same period, although the small number of sales can lead to some fluctuations from year to year.
Notes:
Urban Rural description
The Scottish Government Urban Rural Classification provides a consistent way of defining urban and rural areas across Scotland. The classification is based upon two main criteria: (i) population as defined by the National Records of Scotland, and (ii) accessibility based on drive time analysis to differentiate between accessible and remote areas in Scotland.
The 6-fold classification distinguishes between urban, rural and remote areas within Scotland and includes the following categories:
- Large Urban Areas Settlements of over 125,000 people
- Other Urban Areas Settlements of 10,000 to 125,000 people
- Accessible Small Towns Settlements of between 3,000 and 10,000 people and within 30 minutes drive of a settlement of 10,000 or more
- Remote Small Towns Settlements of between 3,000 and 10,000 people and with a drive time of over 30 minutes to a settlement of 10,000 or more
- Accessible Rural Settlements of less than 3,000 people and within 30 minutes drive of a settlement of 10,000 or more
- Remote Rural Settlements of less than 3,000 people and with a drive time of over 30 minutes to a settlement of 10,000 or more.