Scottish house prices rise by nearly 28% in five years

Property values across Scotland have surged dramatically, climbing more than a quarter since 2020, research reveals.

DJ Alexander Ltd, the nation’s largest lettings firm, reveals that there was a leap in average house prices from £147,731 in January 2020 to £188,807 in December 2024.

That’s a rise of £41,076 or 27.8%.

While that’s an average, the top city racked up an astonishing 37% increase.

Modest 11.4% growth

This house price boom dwarfs the modest 11.4% growth seen in the previous five-year stretch from January 2015 to December 2019.

It also means that home buyers today are shelling out £58,938 more than they would have a decade ago.

Or, the figures show, the cost of a Scottish home has increased by just over £113 every week for the past 10 years.

The picture varies across the country, with Glasgow leading the charge with a 37% rise over five years.

Hot on its heels are East Lothian at 35.1%, Midlothian with 34.3%, Stirling at 34.2% and West Lothian posting 33.6%.

Demand for Scottish property

The firm’s chief executive, David Alexander, said: “There has been a remarkable increase in demand in the Scottish property market since the start of 2020.

“The pandemic, strangely enough, seem to be the catalyst for this resurgence in homebuying.

“Given that the previous five years there was an increase of 11.4% it is obvious that something substantial has changed within the Scottish market.”

He added: “The pandemic may have focused people’s minds on homeowning as it changed the dynamic between work and home life.

“So many more people work from home now that they obviously feel they want their houses to be as comfortable and as convenient as possible.”

Buyers want larger homes

The biggest jumps in value have clustered around the central belt near major cities, suggesting buyers want larger homes with gardens, yet still within reach of urban hubs for work and play.

Mr Alexander explained: “The largest growth in prices has been in the areas of the central belt surrounding our main cities.

“This would indicate that, while more people are working from home and want to enjoy larger homes with outside space, they still need and want to have access to larger cities and towns both for work and leisure purposes.”

The priciest areas

Topping the charts for priciest areas are East Renfrewshire, East Lothian, Midlothian, Edinburgh and East Dunbartonshire.

In East Renfrewshire alone, values have shot up by £77,089 over five years — equivalent to £296 weekly.

Mr Alexander said: “While these figures highlight a Scottish housing market in rude good health, it also underlines that not enough new homes are being built to cope with demand.

“Increases on this scale – which are higher than England and Wales – are occurring because demand is far outstripping supply.

“For existing homeowners this may sound like good news but, given wage rises have been quite sluggish, this can produce a fairly stodgy market with people unable to get on the housing ladder initially, and then unable to move up to more expensive properties because prices have outstripped income.”