Average house prices drop for first time since 2016, figures show
There was also a decrease in the volume of sales compared with the previous month, according to new statistics.
Average house prices in Scotland have seen the first annual decrease for almost three years, according to new figures.
Latest statistics from the UK House Price Index show properties in February had an average cost of £145,762 – a drop of 0.2% on the same month in 2018.
This is the first annual decrease in Scotland since March 2016.
House prices also fell by 3.1% between January and February this year.
Janet Egdell, Registers of Scotland accountable officer, said: “The average price of a property in Scotland in February 2019 signalled the first annual decrease since March 2016, falling by 0.2% in the year to February 2019.
“Prices increased in around two-thirds of local authority areas and different property types showed a mixed picture, indicating that the market is highly variable across the country in this time of uncertainty.”
The UK average house price was £226,234 – an increase of 0.6% on February last year and a decrease of 0.8% on the previous month.
Residential sales in Scotland in December 2018 stood at 7,392 – a decrease of 8.2% on the original provisional estimate for December 2017.
Average price increases were recorded in 22 of the 32 local authorities, when comparing prices with the previous year.
The biggest rises were in Midlothian and Perth and Kinross, where average prices grew by 9.9% to £185,753 and 8.8% to £192,631 respectively.
Meanwhile, the largest drops were recorded in Aberdeen city and Aberdeenshire, where they fell by 7% to £149,435 and 5.8% to £180,862 respectively.
Local authority estimates are based on a three-month moving average.
