Accredited official statistics

UK House Price Index Scotland: February 2023

Published 19 April 2023

1. Headline statistics for February 2023

The average price of a property in Scotland was £180,287

The annual price change of a property in Scotland was 1.0%

The monthly price change of a property in Scotland was -2.6%

The index figure for Scotland (January 2015 = 100) was 133.6

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 March 2023 UK HPI will be published at 9.30am on Wednesday 24 May 2023. See the calendar of release dates for more information.

2. Economic statement

Average house prices in Scotland increased by 1.0% in the 12 months to February 2023. This remained unchanged from the 12 months to January 2023 and was slower than the average UK house price annual inflation of 5.5% in the 12 months to February 2023. Scotland’s annual house price inflation has generally been slowing since the recent peak of 13.8% in the 12 months to April 2022.

On a non-seasonally adjusted basis, average house prices in Scotland decreased by 2.6% between January 2023 and February 2023, compared with a decrease of 2.5% during the same period 12 months ago. On a seasonally adjusted basis, average house prices in Scotland decreased by 0.3% between January 2023 and February 2023.

Comparing the provisional volume estimate for December 2021 with the provisional volume estimate for December 2022, the volume of transactions decreased by 12.2% in Scotland and increased by 30.5% in the UK.

In Scotland, detached houses showed the highest annual percentage change out of all property types, increasing by 2.0% in the 12 months to February 2023 to £325,000. Flats and maisonettes showed the lowest annual percentage change, which decreased by 0.5% in the 12 months to February 2023 to an average price of £123,000.

The highest annual percentage change was in Moray, where average house prices increased by 10.1% in the 12 months to February 2023 to £188,000. The lowest annual percentage change was in City of Aberdeen, where average house prices decreased by 6.6% in the 12 months to February 2023 to £132,000.

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 1.0% in the 12 months to February 2023, unchanged from an increase of 1.0% in the 12 months to January 2023.

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 February 2023 February 2022 Difference
Aberdeenshire £198,463 £195,146 1.7%
Angus £167,926 £160,965 4.3%
Argyll and Bute £194,565 £181,325 7.3%
City of Aberdeen £131,603 £140,860 -6.6%
City of Dundee £138,259 £137,836 0.3%
City of Edinburgh £319,723 £312,000 2.5%
City of Glasgow £166,713 £165,843 0.5%
Clackmannanshire £158,669 £151,558 4.7%
Dumfries and Galloway £158,881 £154,306 3.0%
East Ayrshire £120,519 £119,350 1.0%
East Dunbartonshire £252,655 £253,038 -0.2%
East Lothian £295,699 £294,120 0.5%
East Renfrewshire £280,591 £277,033 1.3%
Falkirk £161,585 £153,297 5.4%
Fife £168,324 £165,269 1.8%
Highland £201,983 £198,917 1.5%
Inverclyde £115,299 £119,135 -3.2%
Midlothian £233,060 £219,581 6.1%
Moray £188,242 £170,969 10.1%
Na h-Eileanan Siar £162,052 £156,977 3.2%
North Ayrshire £122,595 £120,366 1.9%
North Lanarkshire £132,624 £127,941 3.7%
Orkney Islands £194,322 £178,889 8.6%
Perth and Kinross £238,585 £226,510 5.3%
Renfrewshire £147,096 £145,292 1.2%
Scottish Borders £192,927 £193,450 -0.3%
Shetland Islands £217,270 £174,447 24.5%
South Ayrshire £165,281 £170,176 -2.9%
South Lanarkshire £159,308 £154,600 3.0%
Stirling £245,957 £225,684 9.0%
West Dunbartonshire £136,605 £125,739 8.6%
West Lothian £207,125 £195,920 5.7%
Scotland £180,287 £178,491 1.0%

Average price by local authority for Scotland

In February 2023, the most expensive area to purchase a property was City of Edinburgh, where the average cost was £320,000. In contrast, the cheapest area to purchase a property was Inverclyde, where the average cost was £115,000.

3.2 Average price change by property type

Average price change by property type for Scotland

Property type February 2023 February 2022 Difference
Detached £324,742 £318,476 2.0%
Semi-detached £192,197 £189,470 1.4%
Terraced £152,401 £149,789 1.7%
Flat or maisonette £123,098 £123,676 -0.5%
All £180,287 £178,491 1.0%

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

Comparing the provisional volume estimate for the current month with the revised volume estimate for the corresponding month in the previous year

Local authorities December 2022 December 2021
Aberdeenshire 272 407
Angus 160 194
Argyll and Bute 151 177
City of Aberdeen 277 376
City of Dundee 212 225
City of Edinburgh 829 1,025
City of Glasgow 953 1,028
Clackmannanshire 75 87
Dumfries and Galloway 172 193
East Ayrshire 177 218
East Dunbartonshire 128 120
East Lothian 193 214
East Renfrewshire 131 147
Falkirk 209 286
Fife 505 564
Highland 327 416
Inverclyde 96 115
Midlothian 169 174
Moray 142 126
Na h-Eileanan Siar 17 31
North Ayrshire 177 217
North Lanarkshire 458 468
Orkney Islands 24 41
Perth and Kinross 234 274
Renfrewshire 304 345
Scottish Borders 150 187
Shetland Islands 19 13
South Ayrshire 178 200
South Lanarkshire 523 562
Stirling 136 129
West Dunbartonshire 88 102
West Lothian 249 273
Scotland 7,735 8,934

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 December 2022 will increase as more transactions are incorporated into the index. See our Revisions Policy for more information.

Comparing the provisional volume estimate for December 2021 with the provisional estimate for December 2022, volume transactions decreased by 12.2% 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 11.1% in Scotland in the 12 months to December 2022.

4.2 Sales volumes

Sales volumes for Scotland over the past 5 years

Date Sales volumes for Scotland
December 2018 7,486
December 2019 8,072
December 2020 11,148
December 2021 8,934
December 2022 7,735

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 December 2022 Monthly change Annual change
New build £294,792 -2.8% 20.6%
Existing resold property £179,184 -3.2% 2.9%

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 February 2023 Monthly change Annual change
First time buyer £144,512 -2.1% 0.9%
Former owner occupier £217,629 -3.1% 0.9%

7. Funding status

Cash and mortgage indicator for Scotland

Funding status Average price February 2023 Monthly change Annual change
Cash £164,477 -2.7% 0.8%
Mortgage £187,730 -2.5% 1.1%

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