Three key figures for January 2021:

• £164,009
  The average price of a property in Scotland
• 6.9%
  The annual price change of a property in Scotland
• 1.0%
  The monthly price change of a property in Scotland

Estimates for the most recent months are provisional and are likely to be updated as more data is included. The house price index for January 2021 reflects transactions that took place up to the end of January.

Provisional statistics for January

The latest provisional statistics from the UK HPI show that the average price of a property in Scotland in January 2021 was £164,099, an increase of 6.9 per cent on January 2020.

Comparing with the previous month, house prices in Scotland decreased by 1.0 per cent between December 2020 and January 2021.

The UK average house price was £249,309 which was an increase of 7.5 per cent on January 2020 and a decrease of 0.5 per cent on the previous month.

The volume of residential sales in Scotland in November 2020 was 11,842, an increase of 20.3 per cent on the original provisional estimate for November 2019. This compares with decreases of 4.9 per cent in England and 11.4 per cent in Wales, and an increase of 22.9 per cent in Northern Ireland (Quarter 4 – 2020 compared with the same quarter in the previous year).

Commenting on the house price figures in Scotland, Accountable Officer Janet Egdell said:

“The latest report shows that prices rose in all parts of Scotland, and sales volumes remained high but it is too early to be certain if this is evidence of the market catching up from earlier in the year, or whether it will be sustained into next financial year.

“Over the year as a whole, volumes have picked up and cumulatively are now around 83% of levels in the previous year.”

In Scotland, Semi-detached properties showed the largest increase, rising by 8.8 per cent in the year to January 2021 to £174,925. Flatted properties showed the smallest increase, rising by 4.9per cent in the year to January 2021 to £115,218.

Average price increases were recorded in all 32 local authorities, when comparing prices with the previous year. The largest increase was in East Ayrshire where the average price increased by 13.1 per cent to £107,121. The smallest increase was recorded in Aberdeen City, where the average price increased by 1.6 per cent to £146,140.

In January 2021, the highest-priced area to purchase a property was City of Edinburgh, where the average price was £280,204. In contrast, the lowest-priced area to purchase a property was East Ayrshire, where the average price was £107,121.

Further information on HPI Scotland by local authority, property type, first time buyers and cash sales can be found in the latest HPI Scotland publication.

As with other indicators in the housing market, which typically fluctuate from month-to-month, it is important not to put too much weight on one month’s set of house price data. This has been particularly important over recent months, as COVID-19 has affected the volume of transactions within the market, making trends between months more volatile than usual and will continue to be important over the coming months as the ongoing impact of COVID-19 on the housing market and the economy becomes clear.