Scotland's housing market showed year-on-year growth in the latest quarter in both average selling prices and sale volumes, according to new figures from Registers of Scotland.
Statistics for the July-September 2017 quarter show the nationwide average price of a house rising from £170,383 in the same period in 2016 to £177,978, up 4.5%. Price growth on the previous quarter was 4.1%.
Sale volumes were up 7.2% year on year, but 7.6% on the previous quarter, despite a decline in July.
Nearly all parts of the country shared in the growwth. The only areas to show average price falls over the 12 months were Aberdeenshire (by 2.4%; Aberdeen City managed 0.6% price growth), Dundee City (1.1%), Inverclyde (4.2%) and Na h-Eileanan Siar (3.8%). Strongest performing were Clackmannanshire (up 16.4%), Stirling (up 9.4%), Shetland (up 8.9%) and Orkney up 8.1%). Glasgow prices rose 6.6% on average and Edinburgh by 6.3%.
Clackmannanshire however showed one of the biggest falls in volume, down 14.2% and second only to Midlothian, where prices rose by 7.4% but volume was down by 18.2%. Other volume declines compared with 2016 were Dundee City (3.8%), East Renfrewshire (7.3%) and Inverclyde (1.2%). Na h-Eileanan Siar saw 28.1% volume growth, East Ayrshire 20.8%, and East Lothian and Dumfries & Galloway were both up by 19.9%. Glasgow City saw 7.7% growth, Edinburgh 6.6% and Aberdeen City 0.7%.
Commenting on separate figures released for September, Registers of Scotland business development and information director Kenny Crawford said: “Average prices in Scotland continued their upward trend in September with an increase of 3.1% when compared to September 2016. Average prices have been steadily increasing each month since March 2016, when compared with the same month of the previous year."
