Aberdeen is the only place in Scotland where average house prices have fallen, according to latest research.
The Walker Fraser Steele Acadata House Price Index (Scotland) released last week showed that the annual Scottish house price growth was 6.2% in March of this year.
It said that 31 of the 32 Local Authority Areas have continued to see price increases over the past 12 months with the exception being Aberdeen City.
In March 2022, Scotland’s average house price in the month rose by £1,125, or 0.5%, which is less than half of the £2,500 increase seen in February.
The average price of a home in Scotland now stands at £218,992, which sets a new record level for the nation for the seventh time in the past 12 months.
Upward blip
One analyst explained, however, that this annual comparison is distorted because in March 2021 there was an “upward blip” in house prices as people raced to take advantage of the LBTT tax holiday before it ended in April.
In Aberdeen the average house price in March was £186,824, compared to £192,433 a year ago.
This meant an annual fall of 2.9% and a monthly fall of 2.3% as the average price in February was £191,241 – a trend that has been linked to the price of oil.
Walker Fraser Steele Chartered Surveyors stressed it is the average price of terraces and flats in the Granite City that have fallen, dragging down the average.
A spokesman added: “As we suggested last month, there is a strong correlation between house prices and the price of crude oil.
“We are hence anticipating that property values will begin to increase relatively soon, following the recent dramatic rise in the price of oil.”
Shetland has biggest increase
The Shetland Islands saw the largest month-on-month increase in average prices in March, up 8.2% from £170,000 in February to £205,000 in March.
The annual increase was 9.3%.
Prices in your area
In Aberdeenshire the average house price in March was £228,495, up 0.5% on February and 1.3% annually.
Highland made greater strides, up 4.6% in a year to £224,173. This was a 1.4% increase on the previous month.
Moray saw a similar annual increase of 4.3% to £194,384, up by 2.3% on February.
Na h-Eileanan Siar saw a fall of 5.1% between February and March, but its average price of £153,431 was still 11.7% higher than in March 2021.
Scott Jack, regional development director at Walker Fraser Steele, said: “It appears that the lack of good stock coming on to the market continues to support prices.
“Regional markets will perform differently for very specific reasons – think Aberdeen and oil – driving national averages.”
John Tindale, Acadata senior housing analyst, said: “House prices in March 2021 had an upward blip, being one month ahead of the termination of the LBTT tax holiday in Scotland on April 1 2021.
“This prompted an increase in the number of transactions in March 2021 as well as an increase in the number of high-value properties sold.
“It can be concluded that the cause of the slowdown in annual rates in March 2022 is due to the higher-than-normal values in March 2021, distorting the annual comparison.
“We anticipate, other things being equal, that annual rates of house price growth in Scotland will bounce back in April 2022, as the effect of the March 2021 blip begins to decline.”
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