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Revealed: The UK's top region

Over the last year, every region of the UK has been hit by negative price growth as a result of the credit crunch...except one.

According to new figures from Nationwide, Scotland is now the only UK region still recording positive house price growth on an annual basis.

House prices were up a marginal 0.6% year-on-year during April-June, but were down a seasonally adjusted 1.8% quarter-on-quarter.

The strongest sub-region within Scotland remains Aberdeenshire & Moray, which has been the case over the last several quarters.

There are probably two main factors making house prices in Scotland somewhat more resilient than in the rest of the UK:

 - Mortgage affordability is less stretched in Scotland than elsewhere, as house prices did not increase as markedly during past house price booms.

 - Scotland's oil producing regions have benefited from the sharp run-up in the price of oil. This has created particular pockets of strength in sub-regions such as Aberdeenshire.   

Commenting on the figures, Fionnuala Earley, Chief Economist at Nationwide, said: "Scottish house prices had already proved more resilient than prices in other UK regions during the first quarter, and this trend has been sustained in the most recent quarter.

"On most measures of housing affordability Scotland compares quite favourably with other UK regions, and this is likely to be the main reason why the correction in prices has been less drastic than elsewhere.

"Regional breakdowns of housing turnover show less of a decline in Scotland, which is consistent with a slower rate of price falls".