South Lanarkshire house prices dropped slightly in February

House prices dropped slightly, by 0.5%, in South Lanarkshire in February, new figures show.

But the drop does not reverse the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area achieve 13.4% annual growth.

The average South Lanarkshire house price in February was £158,546, Land Registry figures show – a 0.5% decrease on January.

Over the month, the picture was better than that across Scotland, where prices decreased 1.7%, but South Lanarkshire underperformed compared to the 0.5% rise for the UK as a whole.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in South Lanarkshire rose by £19,000 – putting the area 11th among Scotland’s 32 local authorities with price data for annual growth.

The best annual growth in the region was in Na h-Eileanan Siar, where property prices increased on average by 22.7%, to £156,000. At the other end of the scale, properties in the Shetland Islands lost 1.6% of their value, giving an average price of £173,000.

Winners and Losers

Owners of flats fared worst in South Lanarkshire in February – they dropped 0.7% in price, to £89,986 on average. But over the last year, prices rose by 9.3%.

Among other types of property:

Detached: down 0.1% monthly; up 17.7% annually; £315,864 averageSemi-detached: down 0.3% monthly; up 14.7% annually; £179,089 averageTerraced: down 0.6% monthly; up 12.7% annually; £127,776 average

First steps on the property ladder

First-time buyers in South Lanarkshire spent an average of £123,000 on their property – £14,000 more than a year ago, and £30,000 more than in February 2017.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £195,000 on average in February – 58.3% more than first-time buyers.

How do property prices in South Lanarkshire compare?

Buyers paid 12.3% less than the average price in Scotland (£181,000) in February for a property in South Lanarkshire. Across Scotland, property prices are lower than those across the UK, where the average cost £277,000.

The most expensive properties in Scotland were in Edinburgh – £315,000 on average, and twice as much as more than in South Lanarkshire. Edinburgh properties cost 2.6 times as much as homes in North Ayrshire (£120,000 average), at the other end of the scale.

The highest property prices across the UK were in Kensington and Chelsea.

Factfile

Average property price in February

South Lanarkshire: £158,546Scotland:£180,822UK: £276,755

Annual growth to February

South Lanarkshire: +13.4%Scotland: +11.7%UK: +10.9%

Best and worst annual growth in Scotland

Na h-Eileanan Siar: +22.7%The Shetland Islands: -1.6%