Accredited official statistics

UK House Price Index Scotland: March 2024

Published 22 May 2024

1. Headline statistics for March 2024

The average price of a property in Scotland was £192,000

The annual price change of a property in Scotland was 6.7%

The monthly price change of a property in Scotland was 2.3%

The index figure for Scotland (January 2015 = 100) was 142.0

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 April 2024 UK HPI will be published at 9.30am on Wednesday 19 June 2024. See the calendar of release dates for more information.

2. Economic statement

Average house prices in Scotland increased by 6.7% (provisional estimate) in the 12 months to March 2024. This was up from 5.4% (revised estimate) in the 12 months to February 2024 and was higher than the average UK house price annual inflation of 1.8% (provisional estimate) in the 12 months to March 2024.

Scotland’s annual inflation rate rose in March 2024 because average house prices were rising more rapidly between February and March 2024 than a year earlier. Scotland’s average house price rose to £190,000 in August 2022 before falling to £178,000 in February 2023. Average prices then rose for several months and stabilised in mid-2023 around £188,000 before increasing to £192,000 in March 2024.

On a non-seasonally adjusted basis, average house prices in Scotland increased by 2.3% between February 2024 and March 2024, compared with an increase of 1.0% during the same period 12 months ago. On a seasonally adjusted basis, average house prices in Scotland increased by 1.4% between February 2024 and March 2024.

Comparing the provisional UK HPI volume estimate for January 2023 with the provisional UK HPI volume estimate for January 2024, the volume of transactions increased by 4.4% in Scotland and decreased by 38.2% in the UK.  

In Scotland, detached houses had the highest annual percentage change out of all property types, increasing by 7.7% in the 12 months to March 2024 to £344,000. Terraced houses had the lowest annual percentage change, which increased by 6.2% in the 12 months to March 2024 to an average price of £160,000.

The highest annual percentage change was in Inverclyde, where average house prices increased by 14.5% in the 12 months to March 2024 to £124,000. The lowest annual percentage change was in Aberdeenshire, where average house prices decreased by 2.1% in the 12 months to March 2024 to £193,000.

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 6.7% in the 12 months to March 2024 (provisional estimate), up from 5.4% in the 12 months to February 2024 (revised estimate).

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 March 2024 March 2023 Difference
Aberdeenshire £192,958 £197,035 -2.1%
Angus £166,112 £158,363 4.9%
Argyll and Bute £196,293 £187,729 4.6%
City of Aberdeen £134,520 £126,711 6.2%
City of Dundee £137,460 £136,112 1.0%
City of Edinburgh £331,801 £307,838 7.8%
City of Glasgow £174,420 £161,232 8.2%
Clackmannanshire £162,772 £156,288 4.1%
Dumfries and Galloway £164,670 £157,987 4.2%
East Ayrshire £129,071 £122,115 5.7%
East Dunbartonshire £266,234 £256,685 3.7%
East Lothian £309,931 £285,935 8.4%
East Renfrewshire £289,165 £279,639 3.4%
Falkirk £169,655 £156,074 8.7%
Fife £166,233 £165,465 0.5%
Highland £208,145 £202,616 2.7%
Inverclyde £124,216 £108,499 14.5%
Midlothian £239,941 £223,565 7.3%
Moray £190,442 £184,753 3.1%
Na h-Eileanan Siar £164,153 £144,521 13.6%
North Ayrshire £130,430 £124,892 4.4%
North Lanarkshire £140,386 £130,483 7.6%
Orkney Islands £205,422 £202,902 1.2%
Perth and Kinross £239,418 £233,521 2.5%
Renfrewshire £158,966 £146,701 8.4%
Scottish Borders £203,013 £193,220 5.1%
Shetland Islands £226,099 £216,568 4.4%
South Ayrshire £170,618 £165,996 2.8%
South Lanarkshire £165,557 £156,638 5.7%
Stirling £240,245 £231,666 3.7%
West Dunbartonshire £139,201 £126,373 10.2%
West Lothian £216,728 £199,748 8.5%
Scotland £191,678 £179,662 6.7%

Average price by local authority for Scotland

In March 2024, the most expensive area to purchase a property was City of Edinburgh, where the average cost was £332,000. In contrast, the cheapest area to purchase a property was Inverclyde, where the average cost was £124,000.

3.2 Average price change by property type

Average price change by property type for Scotland

Property type March 2024 March 2023 Difference
Detached £343,994 £319,313 7.7%
Semi-detached £203,330 £191,348 6.3%
Terraced £160,300 £150,938 6.2%
Flat or maisonette £133,143 £124,896 6.6%
All £191,678 £179,662 6.7%

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 January 2024 January 2023
Aberdeenshire 184 242
Angus 117 90
Argyll and Bute 100 100
City of Aberdeen 215 215
City of Dundee 177 148
City of Edinburgh 710 695
City of Glasgow 736 674
Clackmannanshire 54 53
Dumfries and Galloway 158 136
East Ayrshire 153 121
East Dunbartonshire 120 101
East Lothian 130 157
East Renfrewshire 106 99
Falkirk 165 206
Fife 426 433
Highland 217 231
Inverclyde 81 86
Midlothian 109 119
Moray 88 98
Na h-Eileanan Siar 15 14
North Ayrshire 157 144
North Lanarkshire 361 317
Orkney Islands 28 23
Perth and Kinross 139 161
Renfrewshire 244 246
Scottish Borders 125 114
Shetland Islands 23 17
South Ayrshire 132 118
South Lanarkshire 402 366
Stirling 83 110
West Dunbartonshire 87 93
West Lothian 205 190
Scotland 6,047 5,917

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 January 2024 will increase as more transactions are incorporated into the UK HPI index. See our Revisions Policy for more information.

Comparing the provisional UK HPI volume estimate for January 2023 with the provisional UK HPI estimate for January 2024, volume transactions increased by 4.4% 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, HMRC volume transactions increased by 4.2% in Scotland in the 12 months to January 2024.

4.2 Sales volumes

Sales volumes for Scotland over the past 5 years

Date Sales volumes for Scotland
January 2020 7,022
January 2021 7,762
January 2022 7,345
January 2023 5,917
January 2024 6,047

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 January 2024 Monthly change Annual change
New build £295,191 7.7% 22.2%
Existing resold property £182,834 1.3% 2.1%

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 March 2024 Monthly change Annual change
First time buyer £153,510 2.5% 6.5%
Former owner occupier £231,881 2.0% 6.9%

7. Funding status

Cash and mortgage indicator for Scotland

Funding status Average price March 2024 Monthly change Annual change
Cash £174,410 2.2% 5.6%
Mortgage £199,990 2.3% 7.3%

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 [email protected]

Telephone 0131 378 4991