Record Number Of £1m Scottish House Sales

The highest number of house sales over £1 million in Scotland was recorded in the month before a new sales tax came into force, according to a report.

There were 36 registered sales of properties worth over £1 million during March, the highest number recorded in a single month in the country. It came before the Land and Building Transaction Tax (LBTT) replaced stamp duty on April 1 this year.

When introducing it, the Scottish Government described the new devolved tax as revenue neutral'', raising no more or less than the one it replaced, but the Scottish Conservatives claimed it was a ''tax grab'' on property purchases.

Figures from estate agent Strutt & Parker showed that two thirds of the 36 sales over £1 million were in Edinburgh.

There was also a spike in sales of properties over £400,000 in March, with 644 sales registered compared to 238 in the same month in the previous year. The record figures pushed up the average property sale price in the capital.

Blair Stewart, head of Edinburgh residential sales at Strutt & Parker, said:

These figures corroborate what we have seen in the past few months.

The massive spike in both Edinburgh and Scotland in the month before LBTT saw the average sale price in Edinburgh rise to £280,000. It had not risen above £240,000 since 2008.''

It comes as a Bank of Scotland housing report found that house prices are rising in line with employment rates in local authorities.

Since 2009, property values in the Shetland Isles have increased by 31%, almost £40,000, with the area having the highest employment rate in the country.

Aberdeen has seen the second highest house price increase in Scotland with property prices going up 21% or £38,275, followed by Aberdeenshire with a 16% increase of £33,022.

The five local authority areas with the highest employment have experienced average house price rises of 14%, £23,462, since 2009, compared with an increase of 2% for Scotland as a whole, according to the Bank's research.

The 20 areas with the highest levels of unemployment - as measured by the claimant count - have recorded an average house price fall of 8% or £11,252 over the same period.

Nitesh Patel, economist at Bank of Scotland, said: There has been a very clear relationship between conditions in the Scottish jobs market and house price performance during the period since the housing market downturn between 2007 and 2009.

Those areas with high levels of employment have tended to record above average house price growth. Areas with high unemployment levels have, on the other hand, typically underperformed.

The past few years have underlined the importance of local economic health in determining house price behaviour.

Other factors, however, are also key drivers of house price trends including the strength, or otherwise, of housing supply.''