Scotland’s housing market is always evolving. Having access to accurate, reliable data is essential for anyone who wants to make informed decisions. Registers of Scotland (RoS) is widely regarded as the trusted authority when it comes to producing data on Scottish housing market trends.
The data we publish is used by a wide range of users, from members of the public, industry experts, researchers, academics, and community groups, to public bodies such as the Scottish Government and the Scottish Fiscal Commission.
This blog post by Garreth Jones, statistician at RoS, presents a range of headline statistics for 2024. The complete 2024 calendar year data is now available within our regular house price statistics. Our full range of data reports and statistics are available on our website.
Key Messages from 2024:
- The median residential property price in 2024 was £190,000, a 2.7% increase compared with 2023.
- Higher median house prices were recorded in 25 out of 32 local authorities in 2024 when comparing with the previous year.
- The volume of residential property sales in 2024 was 98,839, a 5.5% increase compared with 2023.
Median residential property prices
- In 2024, the median residential property price in Scotland increased by 2.7% compared to 2023.
- In 2024, the highest-priced Local Authority in which to purchase a property was East Renfrewshire (£286,000). In contrast, the lowest-priced area in which to purchase a property was Inverclyde (£115,000).
Table 1: Top annual increases and decreases in median residential property prices in 2024.
| Local authority | Median residential property price (£) | Annual price change |
|---|---|---|
| Inverclyde | 115,000 | 11.9% |
| West Dunbartonshire | 130,000 | 8.3% |
| North Ayrshire | 131,000 | 7.4% |
| Clackmannanshire | 150,000 | 7.1% |
| Angus | 182,000 | 7.1% |
| South Ayrshire | 175,000 | 6.1% |
| Na h-Eileanan Siar | 148,000 | -1.5% |
| Perth and Kinross | 215,000 | -2.3% |
| West Lothian | 205,000 | -2.4% |
| Argyll and Bute | 175,000 | -2.5% |
| East Lothian | 275,000 | -3.0% |
| Midlothian | 275,000 | -3.8% |
New build properties and existing dwellings
Figure 1: Volume of sales and median residential property sales split by new build residential properties and existing dwellings in Scotland by year, 2014 to 2024
- In 2024, the median new build residential property price in Scotland increased by 3.3% to £310,000, compared to a 3.5% annual increase to £176,000 for existing residential dwellings.
- Note - be cautious with direct comparisons of new builds and existing dwelling median prices as there are a higher proportion of detached properties in the new build volumes than there are in the existing dwellings volumes, and detached properties typically have a higher value.
Volume of residential property sales
- Residential property sales are up on last year with an increase of 5.5% from 93,668 to 98,839. However, this is a decrease of 4.7% compared to 2022 when there were 103,744 sales.
- In 2024, the Local Authority with the largest increase in volume of sales was Shetland Islands (18%). In contrast, the largest decrease was in Clackmannanshire (-6%).
Volume of residential property sales by the way people pay for their property
- The figures for 2024 show that around two thirds of residential sales are with a mortgage, and one third are cash sales.
- The number of cash sales has decreased by 4.6% in the last year (from 34,995 in 2023 to 33,386 in 2024) and mortgage sales have increased by 11.6% (from 58,673 to 65,453).
Comparison of urban and rural residential property sales
In 2024 the median price for a house in an accessible rural location was almost £90,000 more than in the ‘Rest of Scotland’ category. More information on Scottish Government urban rural classification 2022 (opens in new tab).
Table 2: Volume and median price of residential property for 2024 by Urban Rural 3-fold classification
| Number of sales | Median price | |
|---|---|---|
| Accessible Rural | 13,470 | £267,000 |
| Remote Rural | 4,103 | £205,000 |
| Rest of Scotland | 80,794 | £178,000 |
Scottish Island Regions
- The median price of residential sales in 2024 across the island regions as a whole was £180,000 (compared to £190,000 for all Scotland), which was a decrease of 1.1% since 2023.
- The volume of sales increased by 8.1% to 1,540 across the island regions, compared to an increase of 5.5% for all Scotland to 98,839.
- There were significant differences in prices between the island regions, ranging from a median of £140,000 in both the Orkney Outer Islands and Arran, Bute and the Cumbraes, to £240,000 in the Highland Islands.
Annual Property Market Report
The 2024-25 annual property market report is due to be published in June 2025. This is a long-term statistical review of the Scottish property market. To ensure you don’t miss our latest data reports sign up to receive email alerts.
In the meantime, if you have any questions, please get in touch via email Statistics@ros.gov.uk.