More Scottish Property News.

According to new figures, the average house price in Scotland from July to September rose slightly to £160,155 from £159,000 last year, an increase of just 0.1%.

But the overall number of house sales is down year on year across the country by 41.1%, the number of residential property transactions falling from 42,503 in the second financial quarter of last year to 25,042 this year.

It is also down almost 20% on the previous quarter with the value of the shrinkage year-on-year over £2.5bn.

Housing experts attribute the slump down to "distress sales", where the majority of transactions are owner- occupiers who have little option but to sell up, while those who would otherwise move up or down the property ladder are choosing to stay put.

They also believe that the figures are already historic and the up-to-date picture may be much bleaker.

Official body Registers of Scotland, which provides the most comprehensive picture of the property market via the national data base of all sales, said that some parts of the country have witnessed house price falls of up to 7% and declines in the volume of sales upwards of 55%.

The body paints a mixed national picture with some areas bucking the UK trend and recording significant rises over the last year.

However, every local authority area has recorded significant declines in the volume of sales. Among the poorest performers is the previously buoyant Glasgow market where the average house price of £139,554 was 7.1% down on the same time last year.

Argyll and Bute and Dundee City local authority areas both recorded the highest year-on-year decrease, at 7.5%, with the average residential price at £155,390 and £124,422 respectively.

In Aberdeen, the average, at £176,464, was 4.3% down on the same time last year.

Edinburgh, the largest market with sales of just over £588m for the quarter, showed a slight increase on the year, from £226,010 to £226,516.

Some areas saw a year-on-year rise, notably East Dunbartonshire where the average price rose by 10.8% to £211,824, and East Ayrshire, where the average went up from £121,469 to £133,446.

But in North Ayrshire the volume of sales decreased by 55.2%, in South Lanarkshire by 51.7%, Edinburgh by 46.2% and Glasgow by 42.8%.

Professor David Bell, an economist at Stirling University, said the true current market was in all likelihood much worse.

He said: "These figures related to completed sales and are therefore already historic and the market at the moment looks fairly bleak. We've had the credit crunch and now we're moving into a recession, which will also impact on house sales.

"Sales are also more likely to be distress sales, where people are selling because they must, while discretionary sales are not happening. People are staying out of the market if they can."

Bill Cullens, managing director of Clyde Property, one of the larger west of Scotland estate agents, said the past three months had been the worst he had known for house sales, but added: "It's not Armageddon for estate agents and what we have lost in house sales we have made up for in the rental market.

"I also believe the market will get a shot in the arm come December when the single surveys come in and we also remember that our Calvinistic streak means that Scots have not borrowed as much as they have elsewhere."