House prices increased by 1.8 per cent – more than the average for Scotland – in Fife in October, new figures show.

The boost contributes to the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area achieve 14.8 per cent annual growth.

The average Fife house price in October was £164,623, Land Registry figures show – a 1.8 per cent increase on September.

Over the month, the picture was better than that across Scotland, where prices increased 0.4 per cent, and Fife outperformed the 1.1 per cent drop for the UK as a whole.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in Fife rose by £21,000 – putting the area ninth among Scotland’s 32 local authorities with price data for annual growth.

The best annual growth in the region was in Midlothian, where property prices increased on average by 20.3 per cent, to £228,000. At the other end of the scale, properties in Na h-Eileanan Siar gained just 1.3 per cent in value, giving an average price of £120,000.

Owners of flats saw the biggest improvement in property prices in Fife in October – they increased 2.1 per cent, to £99,387 on average. Over the last year, prices rose by 11 per cent.

First-time buyers in Fife spent an average of £131,000 on their property – £16,000 more than a year ago, and £30,000 more than in October 2016.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £196,000 on average in October – 49.5 per cent more than first-time buyers.

Buyers paid 9.2 per cent less than the average price in Scotland (£181,000) in October for a property in Fife. Across Scotland, property prices are lower than those across the UK, where the average cost £268,000.

The most expensive properties in Scotland were in Edinburgh – £319,000 on average, and 1.9 times as much as more than in Fife. Edinburgh properties cost 2.7 times as much as homes in Inverclyde (£119,000 average), at the other end of the scale.

Article by Joseph Hook, Data Reporter.