Scottish house prices have fallen by £4,000 since a peak in March according to data from Walker Fraser Steele, which suggested the ending of the Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (LBTT) holiday can now be seen in the average prices.

Prices in Scotland fell by a further 0.9% in June to take the average house price in Scotland down to £202,296.

Walker Fraser Steele’s latest Acadata House Price Index (Scotland) revealed that the monthly movement of -0.9% reflected a reduction in prices in 21 of 32 local authority areas in Scotland, as well as a rise in 11 – five of which were responsible for over 80% of the positive movement in the calculation of the national average.

June’s figures still revealed that annual house price growth in Scotland now sits at 8.7%.

Similar to stamp duty in England, LBTT is payable at different rates on each portion of the purchase price within specified tax bands.

Walker Fraser Steele business development manager, Alan Penman, said that the summer had seen “cooling prices and transaction levels” across the Scottish market.

“The average house price now stands at £202,296 which is 2% lower than the peak achieved in March 2021 just before the tax holiday expired,” Penman stated.

“As we continue to move through the year, we will continue to see the impact of the end of the LBTT holiday in April on both prices and transactions, which are from April to June of this year on a par with 2018 levels. The annual rate of price increase in the lead-up to the withdrawal had reached 11.4% per annum between October 2020 and March 2021.

“Prices however reflect many dynamics in a market and, like everywhere else in the UK, they are an expression of supply and demand as much as anything else. The Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors reported recently that the lack of properties coming onto the market is continuing to support prices and this trend will continue over the coming months.”

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