THE average house in Scotland is now worth £1,200 more than at the peak of the housing boom, new figures show.

But the number of completed house sales in January was down by almost half the previous month's figure, while seven local authority areas saw property prices drop in the past year.

Using official Government figures, leading property firm LSL said values had jumped by one per cent in January, the biggest upswing for seven months, with the typical house price now a new record high of £166,771.

The largest month-on-month increase was in Dundee, with prices rising by 6.7 per cent, equal to £8,161, during January.

Other strong areas include Fife, West Lothian, Aberdeenshire and the Shetland Islands, with the first two areas recording annual growth of 9.5 per cent and 10.9 per cent respectively.

North Ayrshire had the biggest rise in house prices on the mainland over the last year, up 11.6 per cent, with the typical price of a detached home growing from £180,000 to £210,000.

However, it was far from all good news.

West Dunbartonshire has seen the steepest drop in values in the last 12 months, with prices falling 7.2 per cent on average, and flats in the area are now worth £20,000 less than a year ago.

Christine Campbell, regional managing director of Your Move, part of LSL, said: "We may have turned a significant corner in the journey back from the financial crash, but we're nowhere near the finish line.

"In addition, completed house sales in January 2015 were down 44 per cent on December levels. This is double the usual seasonal downturn, and also represents a 14 per cent fall on a year ago, as home sales drop to the lowest level for 23 months."

She added: "This shouldn't be viewed as a bad omen though, as the start of the year is always the slowest time for house purchases in Scotland, and it will only get busier, as the sustained flow of front-end demand flooding into the market starts to translate into end results.

"The Scottish housing market has all the necessary strings to its bow."