The latest publication of the monthly UK House Price Index (UK HPI) shows that the average price of a property in Scotland in October 2017 was £143,544 – an increase of 2.8 per cent on October in the previous year and a decrease of 0.7 per cent when compared to the previous month.

This compares to a UK average of £223,807, which was an increase of 4.5 per cent compared to October in the previous year and a decrease of 0.5 per cent when compared to the previous month.

The volume of residential sales in Scotland in August 2017 was 9,282 – an increase of 7.4 per cent on August 2016 and an increase of 5.3 per cent on the previous month. This compares with annual decreases in sales volumes of 12.0 per cent in England, 3.4 per cent in Wales and 8.6 per cent in Northern Ireland (Quarter 3 – 2017).

Registers of Scotland Operations Director and Accountable Officer Janet Egdell said: “Average prices in Scotland continued their upward trend in October with an increase of 2.8 per cent when compared to October 2016. Average prices have been steadily increasing each month since March 2016, when compared with the same month of the previous year.

“Residential sales volumes increased in August. The annual increase of 7.4 per cent when compared with August 2016 in Scotland compares to decreases across the rest of the UK. The cumulative volume of sales for Scotland for the financial year to date – from April to August 2017 – was 45,152. This is an increase of 9.9 per cent on the equivalent year to date position for August 2016.”

The top five local authorities in terms of August sales volumes were the City of Edinburgh (1,190 sales), Glasgow City (1,109 sales), Fife (632 sales), South Lanarkshire (553 sales) and North Lanarkshire (448 sales).

Average price increases were recorded in 29 out of 32 local authorities in October 2017, when comparing prices with the previous year. The biggest price increases were in Dumfries and Galloway and City of Edinburgh, where the average prices increased by 10.5 per cent to £129,885 and 8.5 per cent to £247,568 respectively. The biggest decreases were recorded in Inverclyde and Aberdeen City where prices fell by 4.0 per cent for both to £94,985 and £164,655 respectively.

Across Scotland, all property types showed an increase in average price in October 2017 when compared with the same month in the previous year. Semi-detached properties showed the biggest increase, rising by 4.2 per cent to £151,131. The average price of detached properties showed the smallest increase, 0.9 per cent to £248,482.

The average price in October 2017 for a property purchased by a first time buyer was £116,042 – an increase of 3.4 per cent compared to the same month in the previous year. The average price for a property purchased by a former owner occupier was £172,056 – an increase of 2.3 per cent on the previous year.

The average price for a cash sale was £132,489 – an increase of 2.9 per cent on the previous year – while the average price for property purchased with a mortgage was £148,669 – an increase of 2.8 per cent on the previous year.