The volume of sales transactions in Scotland during January to March 2009 showed a decrease of 57.1% compared to the same quarter last year, Registers of Scotland has said.

The decrease from the previous quarter (October to December 2008) was 38.7%. The average house price for Scotland over the first quarter (January to March) of 2009 showed a decrease of 6.6% when compared with the same period in 2008.

The average price of a residential property in Scotland for this quarter was £140,318. This is a decrease of 8.7% on the previous quarter (October to December) of 2008.

The City of Edinburgh local authority area recorded the highest average residential price at £187,289 a decrease of 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year and 6.8% since the last quarter. Edinburgh remains the largest market with sales of just under £217 million for the quarter, a decrease of 60.9% over the same quarter last year and a decrease of 43.5% over the previous quarter.

Inverclyde local authority area recorded the highest year-on-year decrease, at 23.2%, with the average residential price currently standing at £103,505. The average price for Inverclyde decreased by 13.5% over the last quarter.
The total value of sales across Scotland registered during the quarter was just over £1.6 billion, a decrease of 59.9% over the same quarter last year and a decrease of 44% on the previous quarter.

Average Residential Property Prices in Scotland – Jan to March 2009
Detached: £215,187
Semi-detached: £132,468
Terraced: £116,997
Flat: £108,631
Overall: £140,318
Source: Registers of Scotland

Only Angus, East Dunbartonshire, Falkirk, Moray and Orkney Islands local authority areas have shown increases in average property prices compared to the previous year.

Detached properties showed the largest decrease in house price averages at 9%, while terraced properties showed the smallest decrease at 4.7% when compared with the same period last year for Scotland.

Excluding any local authority where the sales volume represents less than 1% of the all Scotland sales volume, East Renfrewshire local authority area showed the highest decrease in the average price of detached properties year-on-year with average prices decreasing by 28.5% to £272,362. East Lothian local authority area recorded the highest increase for this house type in average price year-on-year, rising to £323,916, an increase of 16.5%.

These figures cover all residential sales. Of the total property sales in Scotland, on average, 30% do not involve a mortgage.