Three key figures for July 2020:

• £155,335
  The average price of a property in Scotland
• 0.4%
  The annual price change of a property in Scotland
• -1.4%
  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 July 2020 reflects transactions that took place up to the end of July.

Reinstating the publication

The UK HPI publication was temporarily suspended in May 2020 because of the size of the reduction in housing transactions due to government measures to reduce the spread of coronavirus. As a result it was not possible to produce a meaningful measure of UK house price trends that would be representative of any true transaction activity within the housing market.

Although fewer transactions are available than usual for the July 2020 UK HPI, RoS and our UK HPI partners have agreed that the UK HPI meets the required standards for publishing. Given the reduction, however, these estimates may be subject to increased volatility, particularly at lower geographical levels where transaction volumes are smaller.

See the publication schedule for reinstating the UK HPI.

Provisional statistics for July

The latest provisional statistics from the UK HPI show that the average price of a property in Scotland in July 2020 was £155,335, an increase of 0.4 per cent on July 2019.

Comparing with the previous month, house prices in Scotland decreased by 1.4 per cent between June 2020 and July 2020.

The UK average house price was £237,963 which was an increase of 2.3 per cent on July 2019 and an increase of 0.5 per cent on the previous month.

The volume of residential sales in Scotland in May 2020 was 3,085, a decrease of 67.7 per cent on the original provisional estimate for May 2019. This compares with a decrease of 56.1 per cent in England, 60.4 per cent in Wales, and 68.3 per cent in Northern Ireland (Quarter 2 – 2020 compared with same quarter in the previous year).

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

“These figures clearly show the ongoing impact on housing market activity of the measures introduced to tackle the Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic. The government guidance at the time was for housing transactions to be postponed and rescheduled wherever possible. Throughout this period Registers of Scotland delivered a range of digital solutions to support those transactions that could go ahead safely while adhering to government guidance.

“In subsequent months we have seen a significant amount of this delayed activity come through for registration.”

In Scotland, detached properties showed the largest increase, rising by 1.9 per cent in the year to July 2020 to £271,709. Flatted properties showed a decrease, falling by 0.8 per cent in the year to July 2020 to £110,851.

Average price increases were recorded in the majority (18) of local authorities, when comparing prices with the previous year. The largest increase was in Stirling, where the average price increased by 9.6 per cent to £208,852. The largest decrease was recorded in Inverclyde, where the average price fell by 13.7 per cent to £92,060.

In July 2020, the highest-priced area to purchase a property was City of Edinburgh, where the average price was £288,506. In contrast, the lowest-priced area to purchase a property was Inverclyde, where the average price was £92,060.

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 will be particularly important over the coming few months, as COVID-19 has reduced the volume of transactions within the market, making trends between months more volatile than usual.