Registers report reveals 2020-21 property market data

House prices in Scotland reached a new high in 2020-21, but sales volumes were down due to the effects of COVID-19, according to the annual Property Market Report from Registers of Scotland.

The report, which details the major trends in the Scottish land and property market since 2003-04, residential and non-residential, shows that the average price of a residential property in Scotland in 2020-21 was £194,100, up by 6.7% on 2019-20 and by 25% when compared with the pre-financial crash peak of £154,813 in 2007-08. Since 2003-04, the start of RoS house price data, the average residential  price in Scotland has increased by 92%.

Sales volumes over the year decreased by 6.5%, from 102,053 sales in 2019-20 to 95,428 in 2020-21. Although volumes were 36% higher than the low of 70,334 sales in 2011-12, the 2020-21 total was lower than each of the previous three financial years, and 36% below the pre-financial crisis peak of 149,944 sales in 2006-07.

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 value of the residential property market over the full year was £18.5bn, down 0.2% on 2019-20 and the first year-on-year decrease since 2011-12. The figure remains 19% below the pre-financial crisis  peak of £22.9bn in 2007-08.

In the non-residential market, the total sales value in 2020-21 was £2.8bn, of which commercial sales accounted for 71% with the remainder coming from sales of forestry, agriculture and land.

The Property Market Report 2020-21 also covers:

• Residential sales by house type and price band
• New build residential market
• High value residential market
• City residential market
• Mortgage market
• Residential property sales by urban rural classification