Annual house price growth in Scotland reached 9.6% during February, according to the latest Scotland House Price Index from Walker Fraser Steel.

Figures revealed that the average Scottish house price saw a 1.1% monthly increase, to now sit at £204,782 – around £18,000 higher than they were in February last year.

The index revealed that monthly sales volumes had exceeded those of the last six years, with 30 of the 32 local authority areas also seeing prices increase over the last 12 months

Walker Fraser Steele business development manager, Alan Penman, said this month’s report is a “very clear statement” about the resilience of the Scottish housing market.

“This level of sustained price growth underlines how well the property market continues to perform in comparison to other areas of the economy,” Penman said.

“To understand why Scotland has enjoyed such a period of growth, we need to acknowledge the impact of the monetary, fiscal, public health and political actions of recent times. Demand, which had been suppressed by Brexit, has been injected into a market of historically low interest rates. This has supported buyers’ affordability since 2008.

“Lockdowns have fuelled people’s willingness to make lifestyle and life-stage changes and the injection of fiscal support, in the form of the Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (LBTT) holiday, has further supported buyers’ ability and desire to move home.”

Penman also highlighted the return of higher LTV lending to the mortgage market, which he described as “increasingly competitive”.

He added: “It will be interesting to see if Holyrood’s decision to end the LBTT holiday on 1 April this year negatively impacts the market compared to the rest of the UK where an extension to stamp duty has been granted until after the summer. With its support, we have seen the market in Scotland perform well.”

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