Accredited official statistics

UK House Price Index Scotland: December 2021

Published 16 February 2022

1. Headline statistics for December 2021

The average price of a property in Scotland was £180,485

The annual price change of a property in Scotland was 11.2%

The monthly price change of a property in Scotland was -1.8%

The index figure for Scotland (January 2015 = 100) was 133.7

Estimates for the most recent months are provisional and are likely to be updated as more data is incorporated into the index. Read the revision policies.

Next publication of UK HPI

The January 2022 UK HPI will be published at 9.30am on Wednesday 23 March 2022. See the calendar of release dates for more information.

2. Economic statement

Scotland house prices increased by 11.2% in the year to December 2021, down from an increase of 12.1% in year to November 2021. Scotland house prices were growing faster than the UK annual rate of 10.8% in the year to December 2021. On a non-seasonally adjusted basis average house prices in Scotland decreased by 1.8% between November and December 2021, compared with a decrease of 1.0% during the same period a year earlier (November and December 2020). On a seasonally adjusted basis, average house prices in Scotland decreased by 0.4% between November and December 2021.

Comparing the provisional volume estimate for October 2020 with the provisional estimate for October 2021, volume transactions decreased by 16.2% in Scotland. UK volume transactions decreased by 56.0% over the same period.

In Scotland, detached houses showed the biggest increase out of all property types, rising by 16.7% in the year to December 2021 to £330,000. The lowest annual change of all property types was in flats and maisonettes, up by 5.9% in the year to December 2021 to £122,000.

House prices increased over the year in all the local authority areas. The largest growth was in Fife (not including Na h-Eileanan Siar, Orkney Islands and Shetland Islands), where prices increased by 16.0% in the year to December 2021 to £167,000. The lowest annual growth for the year ending December 2021 was recorded in City of Aberdeen, where average prices increased over the year by 3.5% to £148,000.

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.

3. Price change

3.1 Annual price change

Annual price change for Scotland over the past 5 years

In Scotland, average prices increased by 11.2% in the year to December 2021, compared with an increase of 12.1% in the year to November 2021.

Annual price change by local authority for Scotland

Low numbers of sales transactions in some local authorities, such as Orkney Islands, Na h-Eileanan Siar and Shetland Islands, can lead to volatility in the series.

While we make efforts to account for this volatility, the change in price in these local levels can be influenced by the type and number of properties sold in any given period.

Geographies with low number of sales transactions should be analysed in the context of their longer-term trends rather than focusing on monthly movements.

Local authorities December 2021 December 2020 Difference
Aberdeenshire £199,459 £182,836 9.1%
Angus £169,215 £152,085 11.3%
Argyll and Bute £178,922 £154,938 15.5%
City of Aberdeen £148,251 £143,218 3.5%
City of Dundee £144,367 £131,088 10.1%
City of Edinburgh £312,459 £284,773 9.7%
City of Glasgow £165,182 £150,447 9.8%
Clackmannanshire £156,559 £138,827 12.8%
Dumfries and Galloway £150,185 £140,732 6.7%
East Ayrshire £121,488 £110,090 10.4%
East Dunbartonshire £255,010 £223,664 14.0%
East Lothian £288,058 £251,756 14.4%
East Renfrewshire £273,408 £247,131 10.6%
Falkirk £155,018 £140,690 10.2%
Fife £166,836 £143,830 16.0%
Highland £198,682 £174,014 14.2%
Inverclyde £123,884 £107,373 15.4%
Midlothian £222,873 £197,088 13.1%
Moray £173,854 £160,031 8.6%
Na h-Eileanan Siar £142,592 £122,127 16.8%
North Ayrshire £126,521 £113,583 11.4%
North Lanarkshire £128,597 £114,710 12.1%
Orkney Islands £190,527 £163,064 16.8%
Perth and Kinross £232,144 £206,730 12.3%
Renfrewshire £148,861 £135,520 9.8%
Scottish Borders £192,494 £172,033 11.9%
Shetland Islands £190,629 £164,397 16.0%
South Ayrshire £171,788 £149,973 14.5%
South Lanarkshire £158,338 £138,970 13.9%
Stirling £234,330 £209,986 11.6%
West Dunbartonshire £127,937 £117,729 8.7%
West Lothian £198,242 £172,659 14.8%
Scotland £180,485 £162,375 11.2%

Average price by local authority for Scotland

In December 2021, the most expensive area to purchase a property was City of Edinburgh, where the average cost was £312,000. In contrast, the cheapest area to purchase a property was East Ayrshire, where the average cost was £121,000.

3.2 Average price change by property type

Average price change by property type for Scotland

Property type December 2021 December 2020 Difference
Detached £330,461 £283,118 16.7%
Semi-detached £191,695 £169,648 13.0%
Terraced £152,657 £136,193 12.1%
Flat or maisonette £122,189 £115,405 5.9%
All £180,485 £162,375 11.2%

4. Sales volumes

The amount of time between the sale of a property and the registration of this information varies. It typically ranges between 2 weeks and 2 months but can be longer. Volume figures for the most recent 2 months are not yet at a reliable level for reporting, so they are not included in the report. Published transactions for recent months will increase as later registered transactions are incorporated into the index.

Sales volume data is also available by property status (new build and existing property) and funding status (cash and mortgage) in our downloadable data tables. Transactions involving the creation of a new register, such as new builds, are more complex and require more time to process. Read Revisions to the UK HPI data for more information.

4.1 Sales volumes by local authority

Sales volumes for Scotland by local authority

Local authorities October 2021 October 2020
Aberdeenshire 532 540
Angus 232 273
Argyll and Bute 190 259
City of Aberdeen 441 453
City of Dundee 310 336
City of Edinburgh 1,181 1,277
City of Glasgow 1,176 1,410
Clackmannanshire 81 113
Dumfries and Galloway 236 321
East Ayrshire 202 253
East Dunbartonshire 169 254
East Lothian 216 331
East Renfrewshire 161 251
Falkirk 243 356
Fife 649 957
Highland 403 542
Inverclyde 127 208
Midlothian 182 260
Moray 160 234
Na h-Eileanan Siar 37 36
North Ayrshire 294 334
North Lanarkshire 546 637
Orkney Islands 35 41
Perth and Kinross 328 405
Renfrewshire 412 516
Scottish Borders 223 313
Shetland Islands 29 32
South Ayrshire 204 364
South Lanarkshire 639 837
Stirling 150 232
West Dunbartonshire 133 203
West Lothian 307 396
Scotland 10,228 12,974

Note: The ‘Difference’ column has been removed from this table as the latest month’s data are not yet complete.

Note: The number of property transactions for October 2021 will increase as more transactions are incorporated into the index. See our Revisions Policy for more information.

Comparing the provisional volume estimate for October 2020 with the provisional estimate for October 2021, volume transactions decreased by 16.2% in Scotland.

UK Property Transaction Statistics published by HM Revenue & Customs (which differ in coverage but are more complete for this period) report that on a non-seasonally adjusted basis, volume transactions decreased by 19.1% in Scotland in the year to October 2021.

4.2 Sales volumes

Sales volumes for Scotland over the past 5 years

Date Sales volumes for Scotland
October 2017 9,047
October 2018 9,127
October 2019 9,456
October 2020 12,974
October 2021 10,228

5. Property status

Transactions involving the creation of a new register, such as new builds, are more complex and need more time to process. This means they can take longer to appear in the land registers. The volume of new build transactions for the most recent 2 months are not at a reliable level for reporting the breakdown between new build and existing resold property, so they are not included in the report.

New build and existing resold property for Scotland

Property status Average price October 2021 Monthly change Annual change
New build £277,467 3.3% 25.6%
Existing resold property £175,752 0.4% 9.3%

Note: Since the October 2017 release, amendments have been made to our estimation model when calculating our provisional estimate. Find out further information and the impact of this change in methods used to produce the UK HPI.

6. Buyer status

First time buyer and former owner occupier for Scotland

Type of buyer Average price December 2021 Monthly change Annual change
First time buyer £144,005 -1.9% 10.1%
Former owner occupier £219,047 -1.8% 12.0%

7. Funding status

Cash and mortgage indicator for Scotland

Funding status Average price December 2021 Monthly change Annual change
Cash £164,020 -2.4% 9.8%
Mortgage £188,268 -1.6% 11.8%

8. Access the data

Download the data as CSV files or access it with our UK HPI tool.

Data revisions

View any revisions to previously published data in the data downloads or find out more about revisions in our guidance About the UK HPI.

9. About the UK House Price Index

The UK House Price Index (UK HPI) is calculated by the Office for National Statistics and Land & Property Services Northern Ireland. Find out about the methodology used to create the UK HPI.

Data for the UK House Price Index is provided by HM Land Registry, Registers of Scotland, The Land & Property Services/Northern Ireland Statistics & Research Agency and the Valuation Office Agency.

Find out more about the UK House Price Index.

10. Contact for Scotland queries

Anne MacDonald, Land & Property Data Team, Registers of Scotland

Email Anne.MacDonald@ros.gov.uk

Telephone 0131 378 4991