This represents an increase of £15,200 over the average price of a property at the end of January 2021. The increase in the growth rate brings about a halt to the downturn in rates observed over the previous three months.

Over the last 12 months, there are six Local Authority Areas which between them have accounted for just under 50% of the £15,200 increase in the average price, on a weight-adjusted basis.

The six areas are - in order of prominence - Fife, the City of Edinburgh, Glasgow City, South Lanarkshire, Highland and West Lothian.

On a monthly basis, prices in January 2022 rose by 1.2%, or £2,572, with Scotland’s average house price now standing at £215,388. This is the highest increase in a month since August 2021, and sets a further record average price for Scotland – providing an additional indication of the general upward pressure on prices.

In January 2022, 30 of the 32 local authority areas in Scotland saw their average prices rise over the previous twelve months. The two areas with price falls compared to one year earlier were East Renfrewshire and Aberdeen City.

In East Renfrewshire, prices of detached homes have fallen from an average £440k in January 2021 to £415k in January 2022. Part of this reduction in the average price of detached homes in East Renfrewshire was due to a fall in the number of homes that sold for more than £750k – there were five such properties purchased in January 2021, but none in January 2022.

Walker Fraser Steele reported last month that this is symptomatic of a general reduction in the purchase of high-value homes in Scotland during the final quarter of 2021, which is now extending into the first month of 2022.

In Aberdeen City the average price of flats has fallen by £5k over the last twelve months. However, in Aberdeen, there is a strong correlation between house prices and the price of crude oil, so we anticipate that property values will begin to increase following the recent dramatic rise in oil prices.

The area with the highest annual increase in average house prices in January 2022 was the Orkney Islands, where values have risen by 19.6% over the year. On the mainland, the highest rise in prices occurred in Fife, where average prices rose by 14.8%. Sales in the month included a magnificent apartment in the Hamilton Grand, overlooking the final hole of the Old St Andrews Golf Course, which changed hands for a reported £4 million. If you are an avid golf fan there is probably no better place in the world to live.

Scott Jack, regional development director at Walker Fraser Steele, commented: “Our report this month shows that the average house price in Scotland has increased by some £15,200 - or 7.6% - over the last twelve months, to the end of January this year. This is an £800 increase over the revised £14,400 growth in prices we witnessed to the end of December last year. Of equal significance is the fact that this heralds a reverse to the slide in the annual rate which had started over the previous three months.

“While the growth rate here in Scotland trails that of Wales by 1.4%, it is still higher than the average 7.3% in England and Wales overall. The Scottish market is continuing to perform well.

“What we are seeing in this return to growth is that people are still living, moving, buying and selling in the aftermath of the pandemic and the “lifestyle” changes it brought about. Working from Home has encouraged many homebuyers to move to larger premises which can accommodate a different way of living and working. Many have been in search of more outdoor space too – the so-called ‘Race for Space’.

“The issue here is that while there is a high demand for such homes, the supply is limited, so there continues to be strong competition for the properties that do come onto the market, with robust price increases as a result.”