House prices in Shetland have more than doubled in the past decade, according to a new report by the Bank of Scotland.

It found that the price rise percentage was helped due to employment prospects.

In the past decade, the report said that the average property price in Shetland had more than doubled over the decade to £153,782 – an increase of 104%.

The Western Isles also saw strong price rise increases, as did Hackney and Southwark.


The report found that the best performing areas in the UK were those with the largest drop in unemployment.

Nitesh Patel, housing economist at Bank of Scotland, explained: "In general, house price growth over the past decade has been stronger in the areas that have seen the biggest falls in the unemployment rate as measured by the claimant count.

"Areas in northern Scotland and inner London have generally outperformed other areas on both house price performance and a lower unemployment rate.

"During the recession of 2008-09 property values fell across most areas, even where the unemployment rate rose only marginally.

"This does highlight that while unemployment is important there are also other factors that drive house prices, such as affordability, earnings growth and low housing supply."

(JP)