Property price growth in Scotland is soaring ahead of the UK with an annual rise of 7.3% in the 12 months to February 2018 and values up 2.3% month on month, the latest index shows.
This growth takes the average price of a home on Scotland to £182,936, according to the figures from the Your Move index with year on year growth six times that of England and Wales.
Not only is Scotland currently seeing the highest growth rate in its house prices for nearly 10 years, but it also tops the league in terms of house price growth in the UK Average house prices are currently climbing at an annual rate of 1.1% in England, 3% in Wales and 4.3% in Northern Ireland.
The index report describes it as a mini housing boom and points out that price growth is heavily dependent on Edinburgh and Glasgow which accounted for 28% and 14% of the growth respectively. But it adds that even without this, price growth for February in Scotland would be 2%, still higher than in many other parts of the UK.
The highest annual growth was 15.1% in East Renfrewshire, followed by 13% in Falkirk, 12.6% in the Borders and Fife, 11.4% in Edinburgh and East Lothian and 10.4% in Glasgow. Prices fell in only three areas with a decline of 3.2% in Stirling, 1.9% in East Ayrshire, 1.2% in Aberdeen and 0.6% in South Ayrshire.
Month on month growth was led by Edinburgh with a rise of 7.3%, followed by East Renfrewshire up 7.1%, Angus up 5.2%, Inverclyde up 4.9%, Argyll and Bute up 3.8% and Midlothian up 4.1%.
The index report suggests that some of the growth is down to the low transaction numbers typically seen in February, coupled with a relatively small number of high value sales in Edinburgh which accounted for over half the monthly increase in Scotland.
Monthly house price growth in Scotland is running at its fastest since 2004, barring the month before the introduction of the LBTT property tax in 2015, while annual house price growth is at its fastest since April 2008, at the end of the last housing boom.
‘Scotland continues to enjoy unexpectedly strong housing growth with prices rising at their fastest rate in a decade. Both high priced property and the major cities are fuelling a mini housing boom,’ said Christine Campbell, Your Move managing director in Scotland.
Sales are also strong. Figures for the period from January to November 2017 total show a rise of 4.6%, ahead of those seen during the same period in 2016 and 4.1% ahead of 2015 levels and the highest since 2008.
