South Lanarkshire house prices increased in December

House prices increased by 1.5% in South Lanarkshire in December, new figures show.

The rise contributes to the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area grow by 2.3% over the last year.

The average South Lanarkshire house price in December was £167,284, Land Registry figures show – a 1.5% increase on November.

Over the month, the picture was different to that across Scotland, where prices decreased 0.9%, and South Lanarkshire was above the 0.1% rise for the UK as a whole.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in South Lanarkshire rose by £3,700 – putting the area 13th among Scotland’s 32 local authorities with price data for annual growth.

The highest annual growth in the region was in Na h-Eileanan Siar, where property prices increased on average by 14.3%, to £175,000. At the other end of the scale, properties in the Shetland Islands lost 18% of their value, giving an average price of £173,000.

First steps on the property ladder

First-time buyers in South Lanarkshire spent an average of £129,000 on their property – £1,500 more than a year ago, and £27,200 more than in December 2018.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £206,900 on average in December – 60.4% more than first-time buyers.

Property types

Owners of detached houses saw the biggest rise in property prices in South Lanarkshire in December – they increased 2.3%, to £339,053 on average. Over the last year, prices rose by 5.6%.

Among other types of property:

How do property prices in South Lanarkshire compare?

Buyers paid 12.1% less than the average price in Scotland (£190,000) in December for a property in South Lanarkshire. Across Scotland, property prices are low compared to those across the UK, where the average cost is £285,000.

The most expensive properties in Scotland were in Edinburgh – £338,000 on average, and twice the price as in South Lanarkshire. Edinburgh properties cost 2.7 times the price as homes in East Ayrshire (£125,000 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 December

• South Lanarkshire: £167,284
• Scotland:£190,341
• UK: £284,691

Annual change to December

• South Lanarkshire: +2.3%
• Scotland: +3.3%
• UK: -1.4%

Highest and lowest annual growth in Scotland

• Na h-Eileanan Siar: +14.3%
• The Shetland Islands: -18%