Big fall in Scottish house sales

The average cost of a home fell by almost £12,000 from the end of last year

House prices have dropped and the number of homes being sold has decreased, according to figures from the Registers of Scotland.

The average cost of a house fell by more than 7% in the first three months of this year compared with the end of 2010.

The number of homes changing hands fell by 35% in the same period.

The total value of the sales across Scotland dropped by 40%, with Stirling seeing the biggest fall of 57%.

The average cost of a property now stands at £146,253 - almost £12,000 less than at the end of 2010.

A total of 12,800 houses changed hands during the first three months of this year - 7,000 fewer than the previous quarter.

Stirling saw one of the biggest falls in the volume of sales, down 52.4%, although Dundee had a 52.7% drop.