Average house prices in Scotland lifted by 6.7% to a record £224,644 in November compared to a year ago, according to the latest Walker Fraser Steele Acadata house price index.
The survey points out that part of the reason that home prices in Scotland are seeing continual growth, compared to other parts of the nation, is that a third of homes in the country are paid for in cash and so are “not as constrained by the cost of mortgage finance”.
House prices edged up 0.2%, or £400, in November, setting the ninth record average price in Scotland so far in 2022.
Acadata senior housing analyst John Tindale says: “With the UK-wide annual November headline rates of the Halifax and Nationwide indices at 4.7% and 4.4% respectively, it may be surprising to see Scotland at a higher rate of 6.7%.
“However, it should be recognized that the lender indices only relate to properties purchased with a mortgage, while 33% of Scotland’s properties are typically acquired with cash.
“One third of purchases will therefore not necessarily have been influenced by the recent rise in interest rates.”
In November, 29 of the 32 local authority areas in Scotland saw their average prices rise above the levels of twelve months earlier, the same number as in October, the report says.
The area with the highest annual increase in average house prices in November was East Lothian, where values rose by 14.7% to £344,886, making it the highest-priced area in the country.
The region is ahead of Edinburgh in second spot, rising 8% over the year to hit £343,570, and East Renfrewshire in third place, which lifted 11.9% over the period to £326,818.
Acadata’s Tindale adds: “If we look at the change in values since the start of the pandemic in March 2020 – when the average house price in Scotland was £183,853 – there has been an increase of some £40,800, or 22%, in the average house price to the end of November 2022.
“This compares favourably with the increase in consumer prices of 14.9%, measured by CPIH [Consumer Prices Index including owner occupiers’ housing costs], over the same period.
“Property prices have hence risen in real terms over the last nearly three years.”
