The average house price in Scotland has risen to more than £146,000, new figures show.

The latest UK house price index found the average cost of a property in Scotland in August was £146,354, up 3.9 per cent on the previous year but down 0.7 per cent from July.

Prices in Scotland are rising at a slightly slower rate than the UK as a whole, which recorded an increase of five per cent from August 2016 to an average price of £225,956, up 0.5 per cent from July.

The largest price increase in Scotland was in Edinburgh, where average house costs rose 10.4 per cent between August 2016 and August 2017 to £246,611.

Aberdeenshire had the largest price drop in the same period as average prices fell 5.7per cent to £188,876, followed by a 4.8per cent drop in Aberdeen to £167,903.

Across Scotland, the average price of all property types except detached properties increased in the year to August.Flats had the largest rise, up 8.4per cent to £108,772, while the average price of detached properties dropped 1.9per cent to £240,241.

The average price for first-time buyers in August was £120,824, up 6.2per cent compared to August 2016.The volume of residential sales in Scotland had the highest increase in the UK, with 10,473 in June, up 19.3per cent from the previous year and rising by 26.2per cent from May.

Elsewhere in the UK, sales dropped 11per cent in the year in England while Wales rose by 1.4per cent and Northern Ireland by 5per cent.The top five local authorities in terms of sales volumes were Glasgow (1,224 sales), Edinburgh (1,216), Fife (704), South Lanarkshire (674) and North Lanarkshire (561).