Capital leads the way on house sales

NEW statistics on house sales across Scotland show Edinburgh was the largest market over the past three months, with sales of more than £745.7 million for the quarter, up 7.1 per cent on the previous year.

Property sales have spiked in Edinburgh. Picture; John Devlin

Average house prices in Scotland fell by 2.3 per cent between April and June compared with the same quarter in 2015.

The average house price was £164,326, down from £168,119 the previous year, according to the statistics published by Registers of Scotland.

The number of residential property sales rose by 4.9 per cent between April and June compared with the same period in 2015, with 25,760 homes changing hands – the highest volume of sales for the quarter since 2008/09.

The figures also revealed the total value of sales across Scotland between April and June increased by 2.5 per cent compared to the previous year to just over £4.2 billion.

Changes in land and buildings transaction tax which came into effect for additional dwellings, such as second homes and buy-to-let properties, may have fuelled the increase in sales.