Falkirk district property prices held steady in July

The lack of movement maintains the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area achieve 13.7 per cent annual growth.

The average Falkirk house price in July was £165,978, Land Registry figures show – largely unchanged from June.

Over the month, the picture was worse than that across Scotland, where prices increased 0.6 per cent, and Falkirk underperformed compared to the two per cent rise for the UK as a whole.

Across the UK, the the average UK house price leapt by 15.5 per cent in the year to July, marking the biggest increase in 19 years.

But the increase in annual inflation was mainly because of “a base effect” from the falls in prices seen this time last year, as a result of changes in the stamp duty holiday, the ONS said.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in Falkirk rose by £20,000 – putting the area 12th among Scotland’s 32 local authorities with price data for annual growth.

The best annual growth in the region was in the Orkney Islands, where property prices increased on average by 26.9 per cent, to £222,000.

At the other end of the scale, properties in Aberdeen gained just 0.8 per cent in value, giving an average price of £149,000.

Owners of terraced houses saw the biggest improvement in property prices in Falkirk in July – they increased 0.3 per cent, to £136,837 on average. Over the last year, prices rose by 14.5 per cent.

First-time buyers in Falkirk spent an average of £136,000 on their property – £16,000 more than a year ago, and £40,000 more than in July 2017.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £199,000 on average in July – 45.6 per cent more than first-time buyers.