House price rises are continuing to slow in Scotland, with the annual rate down to 3.3% in August, from 5.5% at the start of the year and 7.6% at its peak in March, according to Your Move and Acadata.
In August, they fell 0.2% – the fourth consecutive drop in prices since May. Price growth in Scotland is higher than that in England and Wales as a whole – which stands at 1.7%.
However, 25 of the country’s 32 authorities are still showing annual growth, and the two big centres of Edinburgh and Glasgow continue to perform strongly. The cities not only continue to show robust annual growth – 3.1% for Edinburgh and 5.9% for Glasgow – they also both recorded an increase in August, of 0.3% and 1.6%, respectively. Glasgow even set a new peak average price, of £160,435 (against £267,297 in Edinburgh, still the country’s most expensive local authority area).
It was the only area that did, however. Despite the city’s contribution to the market, overall average prices still fell for the month, in large part because another two of Scotland’s big markets – Renfrewshire and Aberdeenshire – both saw prices fall substantially in August, by 5.2% and 1.9% respectively.
The monthly drop in August was also substantially lower than that in both July (0.5%) and June (0.8%).
As a result, Scotland’s prices still averaged £180,310 in August, up from £174,481 a year ago.
Christine Campbell, Your Move managing director in Scotland, said: “Edinburgh and Glasgow are the foundation of the Scottish property market, and the evidence to date suggests that this foundation is strong.
“The problem is, however, that most homeowners seem in no hurry to put their properties onto the market, and we’re seeing a significant shortage of stock. When they do come to the market, however, they sell fast so demand is still there with Leith, for example, being a real hotspot. With talks of a potential second Scottish referendum in the midst, this too could lead to even more price uncertainty as people sit tight.”
Alan Penman, business development manager for Walker Fraser Steele chartered surveyors, said: “When properties come to market in most areas of Scotland we’re still seeing strong interest.”