HOUSE prices dropped by 1.3% in the Scottish Borders in August, new figures show.

The drop contributes to the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area suffer a 1.6% annual decline.

The average Scottish Borders house price in August was £199,502, Land Registry figures show – a 1.3% decrease on July.

Over the month, the picture was different to that across Scotland, where prices increased 1.2%, and the Scottish Borders was lower than the 0.3% rise for the UK as a whole.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in the Scottish Borders fell by £3,300 – putting the area 23rd among Scotland’s 32 local authorities with price data for annual growth.

The highest annual growth in the region was in East Lothian, where property prices increased on average by 15.4%, to £337,000. At the other end of the scale, properties in the Shetland Islands lost 7.6% of their value, giving an average price of £182,000.

First-time buyers in the Scottish Borders spent an average of £155,300 on their property – £2,400 less than a year ago, but £35,400 more than in August 2018.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £234,700 on average in August – 51.1% more than first-time buyers.

Owners of flats saw the biggest fall in property prices in the Scottish Borders in August – they dropped 1.6% in price, to £108,902 on average. Over the last year, prices dropped by 1.7%.

Among other types of property:

Detached: down 1.2% monthly; down 1.8% annually; £341,487 average

Semi-detached: down 1% monthly; down 1.2% annually; £207,248 average

Terraced: down 1.3% monthly; down 2.1% annually; £170,370 average

Buyers paid 2.8% more than the average price in Scotland (£194,000) in August for a property in the Scottish Borders. Across Scotland, property prices are low compared to those across the UK, where the average cost is £291,000.

The most expensive properties in Scotland were in East Lothian – £337,000 on average, and 1.7 times the price as in the Scottish Borders. East Lothian properties cost 2.7 times the price as homes in East Ayrshire (£124,000 average), at the other end of the scale.

The highest property prices across the UK were in Kensington and Chelsea (£1.4 million).