Scottish average house prices lifted by 8.4% to another record £220,870 in the year to May, according to the Walker Fraser Steele Acadata House Price Index.
May’s record was the eleventh time this has happened in the last twelve months. The 8.4% rise in May means that average prices are £17,100 higher than the same period a year ago.
The provisional number of transactions in May this year was 9,092, the second-highest number of deals in this month over the last 10 years. The highest number of May deals over the last decade came in 2019, the year before the pandemic struck.
On a monthly basis, prices in May lifted by 1.0%, or close to £2,300, which is almost double the 0.6% monthly increase posted in April this year.
Across the country in May, 31 of the 32 local authority areas in Scotland saw average house prices rise over the last twelve months – the one exception is West Dunbartonshire, where prices fell by 0.1% to £144,801.
The area with the highest annual increase in average house prices in May 2022 was Argyll and Bute, where values jumped by 22.6% to £227,213 over the year. This was followed by Clackmannanshire where prices lifted by 17.8% to £190,783, and East Ayrshire where prices rose by 16.5% to £153,147.
House prices in Edinburgh rose by 8.1% to £341,488 over the same period.
The report comes after the Bank of England has raised interest rates five times in a row since December to 1.25%, and inflation hit 9.1% in May, a 40-year high driven by higher food and energy bills.
Walker Fraser Steele regional development director Scott Jack says: “One would never claim any market is bulletproof but on the current evidence Scotland’s property market remains at the very least in robust form. The rise in interest rates and the increase in the cost of living are not yet having a marked impact on house price growth.
“The average price paid for a house in Scotland in May 2022 according to our data is £220,870, establishing yet another record price for the country. The market transaction data too, is robust – defying any expectations of a slow-down on this evidence.
“Ultimately demand is strong, but the supply of desirable stock remains low. Property prices are therefore seemingly more resilient in the face of rising borrowing costs.
“Over and above homebuyers, property remains attractive to investors too, as it continues to outperform other assets such as equities, which are affected more acutely by higher borrowing costs.”