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Monthly House Price Index statistics for July 2018 published as National Statistics

Posted: 19th September 2018

Registers of Scotland is pleased to confirm that the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR) designated the UK House Price Index (UK HPI) as National Statistics on 18 September 2018. This indicates that the Index has been independently assessed and meets the highest standards of trustworthiness, quality and value as defined in the Code of Practice for Statistics.

Ed Humpherson, OSR’s Director General for Regulation, stated in their letter that the “assessment team has been impressed by the commitment shown by the UK HPI Working Group and the collaborative approach taken to introduce a range of improvements in response to the Assessment. This approach has ensured that the UK HPI is produced in a way that maximises its public value and gives users confidence.”

Registers of Scotland Business Development and Information Director Kenny Crawford commented: “We welcome the designation of the UK HPI as National Statistics and the consequent recognition of the worth of this statistical output. This designation is the culmination of many months of hard work by the UK HPI working group, involving extensive user engagement, reviewing and revising the content and presentation of the UK HPI and developing a plan of ongoing engagement and review.”

The latest publication of the monthly UK HPI shows that the average price of a property in Scotland in July 2018 was £152,245 – an increase of 3.2 per cent on July in the previous year and an increase of 1.4 per cent when compared to the previous month. This compares to a UK average of £231,422, which was an increase of 3.1 per cent on July in the previous year and an increase of 1.2 per cent when compared to the previous month. The average price of a property in Scotland has increased each month since March 2016, when compared with the same month of the previous year.

The volume of residential sales in Scotland in May 2018 was 7,993 – a decrease of 6.3 per cent on May 2017. This compares with annual decreases in sales volumes of 16.1 per cent in England and 14.4 per cent in Wales in May 2018, and 13.0 per cent in Northern Ireland in Quarter 2 – 2018. The cumulative volume of sales for Scotland for the calendar year to date – from January 2018 to May 2018 – was 34,711. This is a decrease of 9.2 per cent on the equivalent year to date position in the previous calendar year (2017).

Average price increases were recorded in the vast majority (29) of local authorities in July 2018, when comparing prices with the previous year. The biggest price increases were in West Dunbartonshire and West Lothian, where average prices increased by 12.7 per cent to £109,076 and 10.8 per cent to £160,075 respectively. The decreases were recorded in City of Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire and East Ayrshire, where average prices fell by 4.4 per cent to £159,328, 3.7 per cent to £188,835 and 2.3 per cent to £95,325 respectively.

Increases in sales volumes were recorded in eight local authorities in May 2018, when comparing volumes with the previous year. The biggest increases were in Stirling and Inverclyde, where volumes increased by 24.6 per cent to 157 sales and 7.4 per cent to 101 sales respectively. The biggest decreases were in City of Edinburgh and East Ayrshire, where volumes fell by 21.7 per cent to 881 sales and 19.5 per cent to 173 sales respectively.

Across Scotland, all property types showed an increase in average price in July 2018 when compared with the same month in the previous year. Terraced properties showed the biggest increase, rising by 4.1 per cent to £126,061, while semi-detached properties and flatted properties increased by 3.1 per cent to £156,903 and £111,344 respectively, and detached properties increased by 2.6 per cent to £260,221.

The average price in July 2018 for a property purchased by a first time buyer was £123,859 – an increase of 3.5 per cent compared to the same month in the previous year. The average price for a property purchased by a former owner occupier was £181,149 – an increase of 2.8 per cent on the previous year.

The average price for a cash sale was £140,862 – an increase of 2.9 per cent on the previous year – while the average price for property purchased with a mortgage was £157,509 – an increase of 3.3 per cent on the previous year.

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