Fife house prices dropped, according to latest figures

But the drop does not reverse the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area grow by 1.3 per cent over the last year.

The average Fife house price in November was £174,880, Land Registry figures show – a 1.6 per cent decrease on October.

Over the month, the picture was different to that across Scotland, where prices increased 1.1 per cent, and the Kingdom was lower than the 0.8 per cent drop for the UK as a whole.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in Fife rose by £2,200 – putting the area 14th 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 10.5 per cent, to £175,000.

First-time buyers in Fife spent an average of £138,710 on their property – £910 more than a year ago, and £29,500 more than in November 2018.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £209,880 on average in November – 51.3 per cent more than first-time buyers.

Owners of terraced houses saw the biggest fall in property prices in Fife in November – they dropped 2.2 per cent in price, to £142,606 on average. But over the last year, prices rose by 0.1 per cent.

Buyers paid 9.9 per cent less than the average price in Scotland (£194,000) in November for a property in Fife.

The most expensive properties in Scotland were in Edinburgh – £345,000 on average, and twice the price as in Fife.