HOUSE prices in Scotland have reached their highest level for two years, according to the latest figures.
The latest house price index from Your Move/Acadata has revealed that the price of an average home in Scotland is now £173,335, the highest number recorded since May 2015.
This is despite sluggish growth since the start of the year and a fall in the number of homes changing hands - The Index found that sales volumes for the full year in 2016 were 1 per cent lower than in 2015.
The housing market has also fluctuated across different regions, with Edinburgh remaining the most expensive area with average
prices of £250,107.
This is followed by East Renfrewshire (£243,365) and East Dunbartonshire (£242,450). The cheapest is North Ayrshire, which has also seen one of the biggest falls in prices this year, down 5.1 per cent.
Clackmannanshire saw the biggest monthly of 8.4 per cent as a result of the sale of its one property priced at £885,000, while house prices in East Lothian also rose by up 4.5 per cent after the purchase of a £1.1 million detached home on the Inveresk Estate on the outskirts of Edinburgh.
However, neither of the big recent political developments in Scotland – the snap General Election and the Scottish Parliament’s backing vote for a second independence referendum – are reflected in these figures as both came too late to have an impact.
Christine Campbell, Your Move managing director in Scotland, said: “A slow down in growth doesn’t change the remarkable resilience of the Scottish housing market.
"Prices are now at their highest since the upset to the market caused by the introduction of the LBTT in 2015.”
Alan Penman, business development manager for Walker Fraser Steele, one of Scotland’s oldest firms of chartered surveyors and part of the LSL group of companies, said: “The market looks in strong shape, despite sluggish growth. While a few high value sales continue to distort average prices in a number of areas, the real engine driving steady growth in the Scottish market is the solid performance of property in its two biggest cities: Edinburgh and Glasgow.”
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