A Spatial Analysis of House Prices in the Kingdom of Fife, Scotland

Abstract

The research presented in this paper focuses on the analysis of spatial variations in house price adjustments due to economic conditions, and to quantify and describe patterns in the variations of house prices in the study area of Fife, Scotland. To show the impacts of national and local economic conditions on house price levels, specific methods of spatial analysis, such as Interpolation and Geographically Weighted Regression, are needed. The data for this analysis comes from the Registers of Scotland. The Registers of Scotland is responsible for compiling and maintaining registers relating to property and other legal documents. Their main aim is to record and safeguard rights (e.g. respond to policies adopted by the Scottish Government), whilst providing open and efficient access to important information. Results show that there are spatial variations in house prices, whereby the house prices in the north are on the rise, whereas in the south the hotspots seem to disappear.