House prices are falling at a slower rate in Scotland than anywhere else in the UK, according to new government figures.
House prices are falling at a slower rate in Scotland than anywhere else in the UK, according to new government figures.
The cost of the average home in the UK fell to a two-year low last November, following a drop of 8.6% over the previous 12 months.
According to the communities and local government department the average UK house now costs £199,732, taking prices back to levels not seen since November, 2006, when the typical house cost £199,238.
However, falls were at their most shallow in Scotland, where they dropped by 3.9%.
Property in Northern Ireland saw the greatest falls, with prices dropping by an average 16.2% over the 12 months to November. In Wales prices took a 10.1% dive, while in England they fell by 8.7%.
The depth of the drop in prices also increased quarter-on-quarter. There was a 4.4% drop in house prices in the quarter leading to November, compared with a 3.6% fall in the quarter ending in August. Average prices only topped the £200,000 mark in London, the east of England, the south-east and the south-west.
More recent figures showed the falls continued into December. Earlier this month Nationwide said prices dropped by 15.9% in the 12 months to December, while Halifax said they fell by 16.2%.
The figures reiterate reports from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) released yesterday.
RICS said the last three months of 2008 had shown the weakest performance in the housing market for three decades.
Estate agents sold an average of just 10.1 homes over the quarter.
RICS said the number of potential buyers inquiring about homes for sale had increased following the large cuts in interest rates implemented since October.
However, a squeeze on lending criteria means would-be buyers are finding it difficult to secure a mortgage, meaning the rise in buyer interest has not yet turned into an increase in sales.
The number of completed property sales was down by 57% in December compared with the same month in 2007, RICS said.
RICS spokesman Ian Perry repeated the group's call for the government to implement the proposals put forward by Halifax Bank of Scotland head Sir James Crosby, to guarantee new residential mortgage backed securities.
