The Glasgow area had the highest overall sales total

The Registers of Scotland's quarterly report showed more than �3bn was spent on residential properties in the three months January-March this year.

That was compared with �2.25bn in the same post-Christmas period in 2003.

The average price for a house in Scotland is now �106,932 - representing a 22% rise over 12 months.

Total sales of �3.09bn in the first three months of 2004 took the overall amount spent on Scottish homes in the financial year 2003/04 to �13.14bn according to the statistics.

The figure for 2002/03 was �10.91bn.

Buyers continued to pay most in the Edinburgh area where the average price rose 21% in the last year to reach �139,859.

Comprehensive data

The highest year-on-year increase, at 31%, was in the Central Scotland region - covering Perth, Tayside, Stirlingshire and Fife - where homes now sell for an average of �96,974.

Purchase prices in south east Scotland rose 18% in 12 months to an average of �118,188, and increased 24% to �103,066 over the same period in the Glasgow area.

Grampian average house prices went up 17% to �97,350, while the equivalent figure for the Highlands and Islands rose 27% to �92,348, and by 25% to �91,310 in south west Scotland.

The Glasgow area had the highest overall sales total, at �1,006,134,063 for January-March 2004 - a large increase of just over �300m, or 43%, from the same quarter last year.

The registers' reports capture every house sale in Scotland, including the 20 plus per cent involving no mortgage and represents the most comprehensive data on house prices at national and local levels.