Paul Denton

The average price of a house in Scotland increased 2.2 per cent to £151,603, according to the government’s UK House Price Index.

Sales volumes rose 2.7 per cent to 9250 compared to a 0.8 per cent decrease in England and Wales.

The highest average property price was Edinburgh at £269,603 and the lowest East Ayrshire, where the average was £94,249.

An HPI spokesman said: “In 2019, average house prices in Scotland grew faster than the UK annual rate.

“In the year to December 2019 prices rose in 25 out of Scotland’s 32 local authority areas. “

The largest increase was in Inverclyde, where the average price increased by 10.1 per cent. The largest decrease was City of Aberdeen where the average fell by 3.4 per cent.

Paul Denton, CEO of SBS, said: “It is too early to say if there has been a so-called Boris or Brexit bounce. Many of these transactions would have started well before the General Election.

“We need a few more months of data before we can make a judgement, however, my feeling is that buyers still take a medium-term view over the biggest purchase of their lives.

“Consumer confidence impacted by uncertainty over our future relationship with the EU is only one factor. In Scotland, demand continues to outstrip supply at a time when interest rates are low and availability is limited. While the increase in the number of new-build homes completed in Scotland is positive, 80,000 fewer homes than needed have been built in Scotland since the economic crash.

“We support any initiatives from the Scottish Government to replenish housing stock and ease financial and regulatory barriers that prevent people getting on to the property ladder.

“In December we became one of the first lenders to take applications from the Scottish Government’s First Home Fund. This will make the housing market fairer by providing £150million until March 2021 to help 6000 people buy their first home.”