Monthly house prices in Scotland fell 1.5% as the tax holiday ended, according to data from Walker Fraser Steele.

Average prices slipped to £202,292 in April as the nation’s land and buildings transaction tax holiday ended the previous month.

This led to fewer higher value sales, says the chartered surveyor.

However, the firm adds that prices in Scotland remain 10.2% higher compared to a year ago, reflecting “ten months of almost uninterrupted price growth that took place from May 2020 onward”.

It says 25 local authorities saw average price falls this April, compared to 25 local authorities that recorded price rises the previous month.

Glasgow posted the largest April fall, down 6.9%, with an average price of £158,906.

East Lothian recorded the highest April rise, up 7.8%, with an average price of £262, 522.

Walker Fraser Steele business development manager Alan Penman says: “When we consider this month’s findings, we should remember that average prices in Scotland remain 10% higher than this time 12 months ago.

“It’s an important piece of context because our report is a reminder, if any were needed, of how important fiscal support is to the performance of the housing market and how tax holidays drive behaviour and impact confidence.

“We’ve got used to prices rising almost inexorably, but we can see that in April 2021, the monthly growth rate in house prices fell by 1.5%, as a good proportion of higher-value sales had been completed in March.”

Alan Penman adds: “This left mainly lower-value sales being made in April. The downturn in the growth of average prices that occurred in April also feels significant because it contrasts starkly with the ten months of almost uninterrupted price growth that took place from May 2020 onward.

“In terms of transactions, the end of the land and buildings transaction tax holiday in March boosted sales for that month but thereafter things have cooled.

“What this has meant, at a regional level, is that the average value of house prices in April fell in 25 of the 32 local authority areas in Scotland, compared to just seven falls in March. This is by no means a sign of things to come but it demonstrates again the impact of the tax holiday.”