The average price paid for a house in Scotland in September was £223,604, the latest Walker Fraser Steele Acadata house price index shows. 

It is the second fall in a row and a 0.2% decrease from the price seen in August, following 13 months of successive gains.

On an annual basis, house prices are still 6.3% higher than it was 12 months earlier.

However, the annual rate of price growth is slowing having nearly halved over the last three months from 10.4% growth in June to September’s rate of 6.3%.

In Scotland, 29 of the 32 local authority areas have seen a rise in their average property values over the last year, the three exceptions being Aberdeen City, Clackmannanshire and Stirling.

The highest increase on the mainland over the 12 months to September was in East Ayrshire at 15.3%. 

Meanwhile, nine of the 32 local authority areas had price growth in excess of 10.0% – five fewer than in August this year. 

Walker Fraser Steele regional development director Scott Jack says: “As the principal drivers underpinning much of the house price growth in the Scottish house market over the last couple of years become a distant memory, it’s no surprise that the housing market reflects this.”

“This is not only happening here in Scotland but is reflected across the broader UK housing market.”

“Clearly, we should not be surprised if this annual rate of price growth slows for the reasons I have outlined.”

“But things to keep an eye on include the budget this week, the expectation that inflation is easing, and that mortgage rates and affordability will improve in the first quarter of next year, and the lack of supply that has always supported higher prices. These may all mean this reduction in house prices is less short-lived than many suspect.”