Scottish house prices rise despite impact of Covid-19

Latest provisional statistics reveal that the typical property changed hands for £155,191 in August - up 0.6% on the same month in 2019.

Clackmannanshire led the way for the biggest jump among Scottish council areas.

Nationwide price jump

The UK House Price Index found that average home price nationwide in August was £239,196 - a year-on-year jump of 2.5%.

In Scotland, semi-detached properties experienced the largest increase - by 2.7% to £165,019. Flats suffered a drop of 1.6% to £109,939.

However, price increases were recorded in most local authorities north of the border.

The largest jump was in Clackmannanshire, where the typical cost moved ahead by 6.2% to £135,443.

The biggest decline was in Inverclyde, where the average price fell by 11.2% to £94,510. The most-expensive location to purchase a property was Edinburgh, where the typical cost was £284,654. The lowest-priced area was Inverclyde.

Registers of Scotland (RoS) said: "As with other indicators in the housing market, which typically fluctuate from month-to-month, it is important not to put too much weight on one month's set of house-price data.

"This will be particularly important over the coming few months, as Covid-19 has reduced the volume of transactions within the market, making trends between months more volatile than usual."

Residential sales

Other statistics just released by RoS show that there were 3,789 residential sales in Scotland in June - a decrease of 58% on the same month in 2019.

RoS accountable officer Janet Egdell said: "These figures clearly show the impact on housing market activity of the measures introduced to tackle the Coronavirus pandemic.

"The Government guidance at the time was for housing transactions to be postponed and rescheduled wherever possible. This was relaxed on June 29.

"Throughout this period, RoS delivered a range of digital solutions to support those transactions that could go ahead safely while adhering to Government guidance.

"In subsequent months, we have seen a significant amount of this delayed activity come through for registration."

The UK House Price Index was temporarily suspended in May because of the reduction in housing transactions due to Government measures to reduce the spread of Coronavirus.

Although fewer transactions were available than usual for the August 2020 index, RoS and its partners agreed that it met the required standards for publishing. RoS added: "Given the reduction, however, these estimates may be subject to increased volatility, particularly at lower geographical levels where transaction volumes are smaller."