New figures have revealed the value of Scottish commercial property sales fell by over 40% during the first quarter of 2016.

The Registers of Scotland data shows the value of sales was £619 million in Q1 2016, a decreased from £1.074 billion in Q4 2015.

While this reflects the seasonal drop in activity usually experienced in the first quarter of the year, the Scottish Property Federation (SPF) said compared with the same quarter in the previous year, sales figures displayed a fractional increase, providing a "strong base" for future growth.

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The biggest change in sales values was seen in Edinburgh, with a 52% drop from £274m in Q4 2015 to £132m in Q1 2016.

However, this was an 18% increase year on year compared to previous data, and it is expected there will be an improvement in the figures due to larger deals which were completed in Q1 but may not have changed title until after 31 March.

In light of energy industry problems, Aberdeen returned £24m in sales for the quarter and was outperformed by Renfrewshire (25m), South Lanarkshire (£29m), and Fife (34m).

Overall, there was a drop in the number of high value over £5m transactions across Scotland, from 36 in Q4 2015 to 24 in Q1 2016.

David Melhuish, Director of the SPF, said although there has been a dip in sales, the turn of the year is generally slow and an annual comparison "indicates a steady performance nationally".

"There is clearly ongoing adjustment in the Aberdeen commercial property market in response to the challenges facing the energy industry," he said.

(LM/MH)