Housing market: April price drop but Fife market is still buoyant

House prices dropped by 1.8% in Fife in April, new figures show.
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But the drop does not reverse the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area achieve 8.7% annual growth.

The average Fife house price in April was £145,588, Land Registry figures show – a 1.8% decrease on March.

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Over the month, the picture was better than that across Scotland, where prices decreased 4.1%, and Fife outperformed the 1.9% drop for the UK as a whole.

House prices dropped slightly, by 0.6%, in Falkirk in April, new figures show.House prices dropped slightly, by 0.6%, in Falkirk in April, new figures show.
House prices dropped slightly, by 0.6%, in Falkirk in April, new figures show.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in Fife rose by £12,000 – putting the area 16th among Scotland’s 32 local authorities for annual growth.

The best annual growth in the region was in Orkney Islands, where property prices increased on average by 32.1%, to £159,000.

At the other end of the scale, properties in Na h-Eileanan Siar lost 0.5% of their value, giving an average price of £128,000.

Winners and Losers

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Owners of terraced houses fared worst in Fife in April – they dropped 2% in price, to £119,531 on average. But over the last year, prices rose by 9.5%.

Among other types of property:

Detached: down 1.6% monthly; up 9.8% annually; £265,472 average

Semi-detached: down 1.8% monthly; up 9% annually; £152,249 average

Flats: down 1.8% monthly; up 6.4% annually; £89,074 average

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First steps on the property ladder

First-time buyers in Fife spent an average of £116,600 on their property – £9,100 more than a year ago, and £16,900 more than in April 2016.

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By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £173,000 on average in April – 48.3% more than first-time buyers.

How do property prices in Fife compare?

Buyers paid 9.8% less than the average price in Scotland (£161,000) in April for a property in Fife. Across Scotland, property prices are low compared to those across the UK, where the average cost £251,000.

The most expensive properties in Scotland were in the capital city of Edinburgh – £292,000 on average, and twice as much as in Fife.

Factfile

Average property price in April

Fife: £145,588

Scotland: £161,401

UK: £250,772

Annual growth to April

Fife: +8.7%

Scotland: +6.3%

UK: +8.9%

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