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Continuing rise in Scottish house prices

Scotland's average home price increased by 1.57% between June 2022 and May 2023, with significant regional variances.

Edinburgh experienced the strongest growth among Scotland's major cities, rising by 3.35% over the course of the year, with the monthly figure of £334,118 recorded in May ranking as the second-highest ever. Compared to Glasgow and Dundee, Aberdeen's average costs increased by 0.81% and 1.68%, respectively, over the course of the year.

There have been significant geographical differences within Scotland, with East Lothian experiencing the biggest growth (16.31%) during the past year, Inverclyde growing (4.96%), and North Lanarkshire growing (1.66%).

There has been a wide variety of value growth across various property categories, with detached homes significantly outperforming the rest of the market. Again, East Lothian is far ahead of the nation as the average price of a detached home increased by £95,678 in a year, or 18.03%.

David Alexander, chief executive of DJ Alexander Ltd, commented:  “We can see that house prices in Scotland appear to be holding up well. As interest rates started to rise over the last year, average prices began to dip, but we have seen a recovery from those falls and now see positive price rises across many geographic areas and differing property types.

“The detached home market remains king at the moment and is the gold standard in buyers’ eyes. People want outside space and, while this was a trend which began during the pandemic lockdown, it is showing no sign of abating.”

He further commented:  “There remains a strong desire to buy in Scotland which is producing a buoyant market. Homeownership remains a positive aspiration which many are happy to pay a premium for. Whether this continues in the face of rising interest rates remains to be seen, but at the moment, Scotland appears to be embracing home ownership in a very optimistic way.”