According to the index, the average Scottish house price is £220,870, establishing yet another record price for the country – the eleventh occasion that this has happened in the last twelve months.

This price is some £17,100 higher than that seen in May 2021, meaning that prices have risen by 8.4% on an annual basis. This annual growth rate is the highest recorded to date in 2022.

On a monthly basis, prices in May 2022 rose by 1.0%, or close to £2,300. This monthly increase is almost double that recorded in April (0.6%), with rates currently oscillating on a monthly basis from December 2021 onward.

According to Walker Fraser Steele, transactions remain relatively strong, with April sales being at a ten-year high for the month. Data for May sales have not yet fully emerged from the Registers of Scotland (RoS), but preliminary figures suggest that the total for the month will also prove to be amongst the highest of the last ten years.

High-value transactions are, in general, continuing to occur at record levels in 2022, compared to the previous seven years, with Edinburgh accounting for 50% of all sales in Scotland having a value of £750k or higher.

During the month of May, RoS has been processing further registrations with an entry date of April 2022, which provides an update on the number of transactions that took place in the month. The latest total for Scotland during April 2022 is now 8,232 sales, which is the highest number in the month of the last ten years. This suggests that the housing market in Scotland remains resilient, despite the potential headwinds of interest rate rises and the cost-of-living increases, which have been widely publicised in the press.

The provisional figure for May 2022 is 9,092 transactions, which is the second highest May figure of the last ten years – the highest having taken place in 2019, being the year before the pandemic struck.

In general, the peak month for sales in Scotland is August, with an average 9,350 transactions, so a slow build in the number of properties being sold over the next three months is anticipated.

RICS (Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors) in its May Residential Market Survey, is reporting that buyer enquiries are currently negative in Scotland, indicating there is less demand for homes this month, compared to a positive score seen over the last three months. However, RICS also notes that new vendor instructions are similarly lower this month, compared to the previous three months. On balance, RICS believes these two indicators are likely to balance each other out, leaving little change in house prices.

Scott Jack, regional development director at Walker Fraser Steele, said: ““One would never claim any market is bullet proof but on the current evidence Scotland’s property market remains at the very least in robust form. The rise in interest rates and the increase in the cost of-living are not yet having a marked impact on house price growth.

“Ultimately demand is strong, but the supply of desirable stock remains low. Property prices are therefore seemingly more resilient in the face of rising borrowing costs. Over and above homebuyers, property remains attractive to investors too as it continues to outperform other assets such as equities, which are affected more acutely by higher borrowing costs.”