The latest statistics from Registers of Scotland’s Property Market Report 2020-21 show that the average price of a residential property in Scotland in 2020-21 was £194,100, up by 6.7% on 2019-20 and up by 25% when compared with the pre-financial crash average price of £154,813 in 2007-08.

The volume of residential property sales decreased by 6.5% from 102,053 sales 2019-20 to 95,428 sales in 2020-21 and, although volumes were 36% higher than the low of 70,334 sales in 2011-12, the 2020-21 figure was the lowest volume when compared with the previous three financial years (2017-18, 2018-19 and 2019-20).

The introduction of COVID-19 measures resulted in a substantial drop in sales being submitted to Registers of Scotland for registration in the first quarter of 2020-21, followed by some higher-than-average increases in the latter quarters of the year as lockdown measures were relaxed.

The sales volume remains 36 per cent below the pre-financial crisis level peak of 149,944 sales in 2006-07.

The value of residential property sales in the financial year 2020-21 was £18.5 billion, a decrease of 0.2% when compared with 2019-20.

This marked the first year there was a decrease when compared with the previous year since 2011-12. The residential sales market value increased every year from 2012-13 to 2019-20, but remains 19% below the pre-financial crisis level peak in 2007-08 (£22.9bn).

The report also looks at the non-residential market. The total market value of non-residential sales in 2020-21 was £2.8bn. Commercial sales accounted for 71% of this total, with the remainder from sales of forestry, agriculture and land.

The non-residential market was also impacted by COVID-19 measures. In particular, there was an adverse impact on the market value of the commercial sales market, with market values in 2020-21 being lower in every month than the market values in 2019-20, except for March 2020-21.

Accountable officer Janet Egdell said: “The combined market value of the residential and non-residential markets in 2020-21 was £21.3bn (Residential £18.5bn and non-residential £2.8bn), 4.9% lower than the previous year 2019-20. The combined market value remains 30% lower than the peak of the market in 2007-08 (£30.4bn), but 24% higher than 2003-04 (17.2bn).”