HOUSE prices in Argyll and Bute have fallen sharply, according to the latest official figures.

The average price of a property in the area in March was £124,138, according to the monthly report from the government agency Registers of Scotland.

That’s a decline of 5.5 per cent on the figure in March 2016 – the second-steepest decline of any Scottish council area.

Across Scotland the average price of a property in March was £137,139, a year-on-year increase of 0.7 per cent but a fall of 1.0 per cent on the price in February.

The most expensive properties in Scotland in March were to be found in Edinburgh, East Renfrewshire and East Dunbartonshire, with the last-named area also showing the biggest year-on-year increase of any mainland local authority, of 10.1 per cent.

The steepest year-on-year decline, in line with recent months, was in Aberdeen City, where prices fell by 6.3 per cent.

Kenny Crawford from the Registers of Scotland said: “Average prices this March showed a modest increase when compared to March 2016 and there have been increases in every month since March 2016 when compared with the same month of the previous year.”