The average house price has fallen by more than £5,000 in the past year, according to a market index.
Property prices stood at £141,918 in November, down 0.2 per cent on the previous month and down 3.8 per cent over the year.
Low savings, fewer successful mortgage applications and inflation are contributing to the decline in the market, the latest Scotland House Price Index by LSL Property Services shows.
Increases have been seen in the last year in around a fifth of local authority areas including East Renfrewshire, Dundee and Inverclyde but elsewhere has seen consistent falls in prices.
Gordon Fowlis, regional managing director of Your Move, an estate agency chain which is part of LSL, said: “Property in Scotland has been bleeding value over the last 12 months. House sales in the first 11 months of 2012 were 55 per cent lower than they were in 2007, and house prices are down in three-quarters of areas.
“Mortgages are scarce. Savings rates are low. And finances are still being pillaged by inflation.
“The first half of last year saw a slight recovery in prices but it was cut short by a sharp squeeze on the mortgages funds available to banks, which led to a reduction in first-time buyer numbers over the second half of the year.
“First-time buyers are the cornerstone of a healthy market. Without them, demand in the whole market fizzles out and house prices are dragged down.”
Wealthier buyers are dominating the market which will remain until mortgages become more accessible, Mr Fowlis said.
“Even Edinburgh, which is normally relatively impervious to price falls thanks to the high number of wealthier buyers who live there, has seen values collapse. Prices in the capital have dropped an eye-watering £10,000 in the last 12 months.
“Some local authority areas saw less than 100 sales in November, which illustrates just how depressed the market is.”
