Accredited official statistics

UK House Price Index Scotland: October 2021

Published 15 December 2021

1. Headline statistics for October 2021

The average price of a property in Scotland was £181,391

The annual price change of a property in Scotland was 11.3%

The monthly price change of a property in Scotland was 0.4%

The index figure for Scotland (January 2015 = 100) was 134.4

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 November 2021 UK HPI will be published at 9.30am on Wednesday 19 January 2022. See the calendar of release dates for more information.

2. Economic statement

Scotland house prices increased by 11.3% in the year to October 2021, down from an increase of 12.5% in year to September 2021. Scotland house prices were growing faster than the UK annual rate of 10.2% in the year to October 2021. On a non-seasonally adjusted basis average house prices in Scotland increased by 0.4% between September and October 2021, compared with an increase of 1.5% during the same period a year earlier (September and October 2020). On a seasonally adjusted basis, average house prices in Scotland increased by 1.0% between September and October 2021.

Comparing the provisional volume estimate for August 2020 with the provisional estimate for August 2021, volume transactions increased by 45.7% in Scotland. UK volume transactions decreased by 30.3% over the same period.

In Scotland, detached houses showed the biggest increase out of all property types, rising by 15.9% in the year to October 2021 to £325,000. The lowest annual change of all property types was in flats and maisonettes, up by 8.1% in the year to October 2021 to £126,000.

House prices increased over the year in all the local authority areas. The largest growth was in Midlothian where prices increased by 20.3% in the year to October 2021 to £228,000. The lowest annual growth for the year ending October 2021 (not including Na h-Eileanan Siar and Shetland Islands) was recorded in Angus where average prices increased over the year by 6.5% to £163,000.

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 11.3% in the year to October 2021, compared with an increase of 12.5% in the year to September 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 October 2021 October 2020 Difference
Aberdeenshire £198,048 £181,525 9.1%
Angus £163,013 £153,082 6.5%
Argyll and Bute £164,607 £146,958 12.0%
City of Aberdeen £148,708 £136,227 9.2%
City of Dundee £145,016 £129,797 11.7%
City of Edinburgh £319,160 £281,296 13.5%
City of Glasgow £164,483 £146,961 11.9%
Clackmannanshire £158,708 £132,852 19.5%
Dumfries and Galloway £149,639 £135,424 10.5%
East Ayrshire £120,620 £105,439 14.4%
East Dunbartonshire £251,657 £219,430 14.7%
East Lothian £289,297 £247,395 16.9%
East Renfrewshire £278,971 £244,471 14.1%
Falkirk £150,888 £135,147 11.6%
Fife £164,623 £143,368 14.8%
Highland £195,287 £170,974 14.2%
Inverclyde £119,449 £102,626 16.4%
Midlothian £228,317 £189,767 20.3%
Moray £176,027 £155,865 12.9%
Na h-Eileanan Siar £119,713 £118,156 1.3%
North Ayrshire £124,656 £110,365 12.9%
North Lanarkshire £129,699 £113,078 14.7%
Orkney Islands £184,735 £161,228 14.6%
Perth and Kinross £229,774 £200,915 14.4%
Renfrewshire £151,427 £129,381 17.0%
Scottish Borders £191,160 £166,284 15.0%
Shetland Islands £187,300 £182,347 2.7%
South Ayrshire £169,582 £149,088 13.7%
South Lanarkshire £156,481 £135,703 15.3%
Stirling £235,487 £199,503 18.0%
West Dunbartonshire £129,891 £113,603 14.3%
West Lothian £193,368 £168,478 14.8%
Scotland £181,391 £163,019 11.3%

Average price by local authority for Scotland

In October 2021, the most expensive area to purchase a property was City of Edinburgh, where the average cost was £319,000. In contrast, the cheapest area to purchase a property was Inverclyde, where the average cost was £119,000.

3.2 Average price change by property type

Average price change by property type for Scotland

Property type October 2021 October 2020 Difference
Detached £325,402 £280,862 15.9%
Semi-detached £192,085 £171,388 12.1%
Terraced £151,839 £137,279 10.6%
Flat or maisonette £125,604 £116,159 8.1%
All £181,391 £163,019 11.3%

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 August 2021 August 2020
Aberdeenshire 461 283
Angus 251 142
Argyll and Bute 229 110
City of Aberdeen 425 300
City of Dundee 289 195
City of Edinburgh 1,082 644
City of Glasgow 1,138 768
Clackmannanshire 85 73
Dumfries and Galloway 249 201
East Ayrshire 207 119
East Dunbartonshire 158 132
East Lothian 189 155
East Renfrewshire 163 119
Falkirk 244 211
Fife 606 484
Highland 433 288
Inverclyde 140 100
Midlothian 168 130
Moray 146 128
Na h-Eileanan Siar 33 19
North Ayrshire 221 170
North Lanarkshire 499 435
Orkney Islands 33 24
Perth and Kinross 286 211
Renfrewshire 375 244
Scottish Borders 204 152
Shetland Islands 27 21
South Ayrshire 197 150
South Lanarkshire 666 502
Stirling 130 117
West Dunbartonshire 121 99
West Lothian 288 251
Scotland 9,743 6,977

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

Comparing the provisional volume estimate for August 2020 with the provisional estimate for August 2021, volume transactions increased by 45.7% 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 increased by 45.3% in Scotland in the year to August 2021.

4.2 Sales volumes

Sales volumes for Scotland over the past 5 years

Date Sales volumes for Scotland
August 2017 9,518
August 2018 10,536
August 2019 10,134
August 2020 6,977
August 2021 9,743

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 August 2021 Monthly change Annual change
New build £273,990 1.5% 28.0%
Existing resold property £175,705 2.4% 15.5%

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 October 2021 Monthly change Annual change
First time buyer £145,145 0.3% 9.9%
Former owner occupier £219,574 0.5% 12.6%

7. Funding status

Cash and mortgage indicator for Scotland

Funding status Average price October 2021 Monthly change Annual change
Cash £165,964 0.8% 10.5%
Mortgage £188,622 0.3% 11.6%

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