House prices in Fife show slight rise – flat owners reap the biggest benefit

The rise contributes to the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area grow by 3.8% over the last year. The average Fife house price in April was £168,774, Land Registry figures show – a 0.8% increase on March.

Over the month, the picture was different to that across Scotland, where prices increased 1.3%, but Fife was above the 0.5% rise for the UK as a whole.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in Fife rose by £6200 – putting the area ninth among Scotland’s 32 local authorities with price data for annual growth.

First-time buyers spent an average of £134,200 on their property – £4600 more than a year ago, and £27,400 more than in April 2018. By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £201,900 on average in April – 50.5% more than first-time buyers.

Owners of flats saw the biggest rise in property prices in the region – they increased 1.2%, to £100,342 on average. Over the last year, prices rose by 2.9%.

Detached property - up 0.5% monthly; up 4.5% annually; £315,368 average; Semi-detached - up 0.9% monthly; up 4.7% annually; £179,155 average; Terraced - up 0.5% monthly; up 3.5% annually; £137,327 average

Fife buyers paid 9.8% less than the average price in Scotland (£187,000). Across the country, property prices are low compared to those across the UK, where the average cost is £286,000. The most expensive properties in Scotland were in East Lothian – £334,000 on average, and twice the price as in Fife.