Average house prices in Scotland increased by 3.1% during November, the largest monthly increase since March 2015.

The latest Scottish House Price Index from Walker Fraser Steele Chartered Surveyors, which is part of e.surv Chartered Surveyors, revealed that this was an average annual increase of 6.7%.

Only three of the 32 local authority areas in Scotland failed to record a monthly rise in average house price, while 22 of the local authorities reached their record average prices during the month. These figures took the average Scottish house price to £198,157 at the end of November.

“The growth was felt across the board, with 29 of the 32 local authority areas seeing month-on-month price increases,” commented Walker Fraser Steele business development manager, Alan Penman.

“Additionally, transactions numbers remain strong, with our data showing that October volumes surpassed the monthly totals of the previous six years. The busy market reflects an increase in the demand for homes and confirms widespread price growth, rather than for a small number of purchases at the top end of the market.

“Despite the monthly growth, the activity pause in the first lockdown caused overall transaction numbers from January to October 2020 to be down 27% from the same period last year.”

Acadata senior housing analyst, John Tindale, noted that Scotland’s monthly price increase of 3.1% in November is the highest recorded rate since March 2015, the month prior to the introduction of the pre-announced Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (LBTT) – which replaced the former UK wide Stamp Duty Land Tax.

“The LBTT tax, or the temporary holiday for some from having to pay it, is similarly having an effect on the behaviour of the current market,” Tindale added. “The LBTT used to start at £145,000, at a rate of 2%, but currently with the ‘holiday’ it now starts at £250,000, hence saving the purchaser up to £2,100 in tax.

“Monthly transactions have increased by an overall 42% since the introduction of the LBTT holiday in July, although part of this increase is to do with seasonal factors. Within this overall increase, the price range from £145,000 to £250,000 has seen a 45% increase in the number of properties sold.”

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