Even a glance at the latest Registers for Scotland (RoS) UK House Price Index (June 2024) reaffirms that you continue to need fairly deep pockets to buy a property in Scotland. The latest RoS figures show that the average property price in June 2024 was £192,000 – up 4.3% compared to June 2023.
To put that headline figure in context, the average salary in Scotland is currently around £35,000. Therefore, against the background of challenging living and energy costs, for many people and in particular first-time buyers, the property ladder remains tough to climb.
That said, at an average price of £132,000 flatted properties remain the most affordable type of property to purchase in Scotland (June 2024) and have also recorded the lowest annual increase (1.3%).
Of course, readers of this post may be looking to sell as opposed to buy a property.  If that’s you, the steady rise in average property values will be positive news and may encourage you to consider a move.  If that’s the case, I hope the below gives you food for thought and you soon get in touch to discuss commissioning a professional home report by an independent and RICS certified surveyor.  Our documents will also provide an indicative value of your property.
Whether you are buying or selling a property, some of the additional findings reported by Registers for Scotland make for interesting reading.
Can I afford that property?
When you consider Scotland’s average annual salary, it’s quite staggering to see that in June 2024, the average detached property selling price of £340,435 was over 9 x the average take home annual pay packet. Like semi-detached properties (£205,780) both types of property have recorded an annual average increase of over 6%. Terraced properties (£164,901) have also risen by 5.5% compared to June 2023. As I stated earlier, flats are the one property type where average prices have been more modest – but they are still increasing.
Consider too that according to Nerdwallet, the average rate on a 2-year fixed rate mortgage with a 40% deposit was 4.28% in September this year. It’s around 3.97% for a similar 5-year deal.  Even deals requiring a smaller deposit (around 10%) and over a 5- year basis have dropped to around 4.97%. According to some industry commentators, there’s the expectation that rates will continue to fall in the coming months.
Obviously, affordability will depend on individual circumstances but for buyer and seller alike, reduced mortgage rates can only be a positive development if you are trying to get on or move up the property ladder.
Local authority area hot spots
At a glance, the latest Registers for Scotland data confirms that with the exception of the City of Aberdeen(-0.6% to £134,000), almost all of Scotland’s main cities – Dundee (3% to £145,000), Edinburgh (5.9% to £333,000) and Glasgow (4.8% to £177,000) have seen a positive increase in average property price at June 2024 when compared to June 2023.  Inverness is covered by the much larger Highland local authority area (3.8% to £208,000) and Perth sits within the larger Perth and Kinross (-0.2% to £234,000) authority.
Keep in mind that there will be considerable variation in price points within each local authority area but the above is a useful guide.  For example, City of Edinburgh continues to command the highest average property prices while the west coast local authority area of Inverclyde (£123,000 and down by 0.9%) offers the lowest average property price.
Notably, potentially influenced by factors like offering greater affordability while being in commutable distance of major cities, the local authority areas of West Lothian (6.1% to £217,000), Aberdeenshire(1.7% to £202,000), Clackmannanshire (5.4% to £166,000), Falkirk (6.1% to £168,000), Stirling (7% to £251,000) and West Dunbartonshire (9.4% to £138,000) have all seen marked average property price increases.  It may not offer an easy commute for many of us, but various factors have clearly influenced the Shetland Islands property market.
Sellers in those Northern Isles may benefit from a massive 25% average property price increase to £220,000 though it will make tough reading for those seeking to buy in such a market.
If you are planning to buy a property and potentially move to be close to a place of work or study, the above figures should help identify areas and property types that are commanding higher values.  However, prices do fluctuate. In my experience, every property home report (and valuation) must be considered on its own merits and reflect factors like structural condition, the number of rooms, energy efficiency and the state of repair.
Therefore, even if a local authority area is showing high average property prices, it can pay dividends for potential buyers to keep a sharp eye on an individual property that may have been on the market for a while in an appealing area or community.
Equally, if you hope to maximise your property value, take steps to ensure your property is in sound structural condition and state of repair before selling. These are factors which will impact on your home report.
