Scottish Housing Market Review: Q1 2025
Quarterly bulletin collating a range of previously published statistics on the latest trends in the Scottish housing market.
Part of
2. House Prices
2.1. Scottish House Price Performance: National
Source: UK HPI.
Average house prices in Scotland, as measured by the UK House Price Index (HPI), increased annually by 5.3% in Q4 2024. This is the highest growth rate since Q3 2022 (7.4%), and the fourth consecutive quarter where annual house price growth has been positive.
The average property price (mix-adjusted, geometric mean) in Scotland stood at £188K in Q4 2024. It should be noted that the ONS has re-referenced from a base of January 2015 to January 2023, which allows the UK HPI to better reflect the type of properties currently being sold; for example, between 2015 and 2023 the proportion of smaller properties being sold has increased. This change has led to around a 4% downward shift in the level of prices, but inflation rates are unaffected by re-referencing.
Registers of Scotland data shows that the average (arithmetic mean) house price in Scotland increased annually by 2.8% to £231K in Q4 2024. Registers of Scotland data is not mix-adjusted, so it will be affected by the composition of properties sold.
UK HPI data shows that annual house price growth in Q4 2024 was highest for terraced properties (6.1%), while flats increased the least (4.3%).
2.2. Scottish House Price Performance by Dwelling/Buyer Type
In previous editions of the Scottish Housing Market Review, we have included the UK HPI breakdown of new build and existing property price estimates in Scotland. The ONS has noted that due a fall in the proportion of transactions which are processed by HM Land Registry in time for their inclusion in initial HPI estimates, revisions have been larger than usual, and that this has affected new build price estimates in particular. Given that there have been significant and typically downward revisions to initial new build price estimates for Scotland in recent months, we have decided on a temporary basis not to include a breakdown of new build and existing property prices until the data issues are resolved.
The UK HPI shows that the average price of a property bought by former owner occupiers in Scotland increased by an annual 5.3% in Q4 2024, to £235K. Meanwhile, the average price of a property purchased by a first-time buyer also increased by an annual 5.3%, to £154K.
2.3. Scottish House Price Performance: Local Authorities
Table 2.1 sets out the level and annual change in quarterly house prices by local authority. The small number of sales in some local authorities, such as the island local authorities, can lead to some volatility in estimated house prices despite the HPI methodology adjusting for the mix of houses sold; therefore, the change in average house prices in the last 4 quarters compared to the preceding 4 quarters is also presented. [2]
Focussing on the longer-term trend due to the volatility of quarterly data
shows that 30 of the 32 local authorities saw an increase in their average house price in the four quarters to Q4 2024 relative to the previous four quarters. Average house prices increased the most in the Shetland Islands (10.4%), followed by Inverclyde (6.4%). The two local authorities recording decreases were Na h-Eileanan Siar (-3.9%) and Argyll & Bute (-0.1%). Due to the low number of sales in island local authorities, the significant increase in the Shetland Islands and significant decrease in Na h-Eileanan Siar should be treated with some caution despite the longer time period used to calculate these changes.
| Local Authority | Prices - Q4 2024 | Q4 2023 on Q4 2024 | 4 quarter to Q4 2024 on previous 4 quarters |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aberdeen City | £146,954 | 2.7% | 0.7% |
| Aberdeenshire | £205,120 | 1.6% | 0.1% |
| Angus | £165,982 | 2.7% | 2.4% |
| Argyll & Bute | £179,221 | 3.2% | -0.1% |
| Clackmannanshire | £166,695 | 3.6% | 5.1% |
| Dumfries & Galloway | £157,568 | 1.7% | 0.9% |
| Dundee City | £141,052 | 2.1% | 1.7% |
| East Ayrshire | £128,324 | 6.8% | 3.7% |
| East Dunbartonshire | £256,284 | 1.3% | 1.6% |
| East Lothian | £291,117 | 2.9% | 0.3% |
| East Renfrewshire | £295,380 | 2.9% | 0.9% |
| Edinburgh, City of | £288,020 | 4.9% | 2.2% |
| Falkirk | £164,342 | 3.8% | 3.6% |
| Fife | £168,662 | 2.6% | 0.3% |
| Glasgow City | £183,390 | 6.2% | 4.7% |
| Highland | £211,918 | 2.6% | 2.0% |
| Inverclyde | £110,270 | 6.8% | 6.4% |
| Midlothian | £279,970 | 4.0% | 2.8% |
| Moray | £197,219 | 4.1% | 1.7% |
| Na h-Eileanan Siar | £143,096 | -6.2% | -3.9% |
| North Ayrshire | £127,276 | 2.2% | 3.1% |
| North Lanarkshire | £147,596 | 7.0% | 4.8% |
| Orkney Islands | £203,391 | 7.4% | 3.2% |
| Perth & Kinross | £223,464 | 5.9% | 1.3% |
| Renfrewshire | £155,477 | 8.2% | 5.1% |
| Scottish Borders | £177,790 | 3.4% | 2.5% |
| Shetland Islands | £188,495 | 11.5% | 10.4% |
| South Ayrshire | £169,286 | 5.8% | 3.4% |
| South Lanarkshire | £170,450 | 3.5% | 3.0% |
| Stirling | £232,890 | 6.9% | 4.9% |
| West Dunbartonshire | £124,017 | 5.0% | 5.9% |
| West Lothian | £217,914 | 6.2% | 3.4% |
| Scotland | £188,012 | 5.3% | 3.1% |
Source: ONS, UK HPI
Contact
Email: jake.forsyth@gov.scot