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Highlands housing costs rise whilst islands house prices drop

Inverness city centre
Inverness city centre

House prices in the north are on the increase, with the number of people purchasing homes also on the rise.

Meanwhile, the Western Isles has seen a small drop in the cost of homes and a 19.7% increase in the volume of sales.

Properties in the Eilean Siar region have fallen 0.3% from an average of £98,446 to £98,160 in the last year.

Orkney has seen house prices rise by 2.8% from £125,513 to £129,075, while Shetland has seen prices drop 8.6% drop to £126, 089.

The figures – released yesterday by The Registers of Scotland – show an overall increase in the price of Scottish homes in the second quarter of the 2014 financial year, as compared to 2013.

Across Scotland as a whole, the number of properties being sold has jumped by 9.1% in since July 2013, and the average house price for the country now sits at £170,190.

The Highlands, including Inverness, has seen the overall value of property sales go from £166.2million to £195.6million in the last year.

Last night chief executive of the Inverness Chamber of Commerce, Stewart Nicol, said: “I’m not surprised by the figures. I think there’s a real buoyancy around Inverness and the Moray Firth, and I think these stats reflect that.

“I’m not surprised as there’s a lot going on in Inverness and the Highlands in general, I think we’re doing really well economically. I think there’s a lot of business and positive growth. People are coming to the city and the region and want to live here.”

Mr Nicol added that many people in the Highlands were trying “as best they can to get into houses themselves rather than let”.

He said: “I think that’s always going to be the case, but I also think we need to be careful and there’s a challenge in the city with the provision of housing.”

Detached and semi-detached homes as well as flats in the north have increased in cost, with more people purchasing the properties.

Terraced homes have also risen in cost, but have seen a 3.8% drop in the volume of sales.

The cost of a detached home in the Western Isles has dropped from £109,662 to £102,510, with a 18.9% increase in the volume of sales.

Semi-detached homes in the Western Isles have also risen in cost from £86,574 to £93,661, with a 38.5% rise in the number of property sales.

There has been a 40.3% rise in the average cost of a flat in the region, with the number being sold falling from three to just two.