"With strong growth in both its biggest cities, Scotland’s market is on a strong footing with first time buyers contributing to this increase in activity."
Prices in Scotland have risen for the fifth month in succession, against three months of falling prices to June in England & Wales, with widespread annual increases and nearly half of all local authority areas.
The latest available figures in Scotland don’t take account of the post-election period, but transactions are estimated to be up 8%.
The average house price in Scotland now stands at £175,941, up £7,779 over the year.
Growth is being driven by the strong performance of its two biggest cities, Edinburgh and Glasgow, which grew 2.9% and 2.8%, respectively in June. Both also show solid annual growth, of 4.6% and 10.6%.
Sales in both Glasgow and Edinburgh are supported by strong interest in affordable accommodation from first time buyers. According to the CML, the largest number of loans taken out in Q1 2017 was by first time buyers buying flats.
Prices more widely are being driven by tight supply: the latest monthly RICS survey shows average stocks per surveyor close to an all-time low. Surveyors reported a small increase in enquiries in June, but a decrease in the number of new vendor instructions. That’s likely to continue over the next few months, during the holiday period.
Christine Campbell, Your Move managing director in Scotland, said: “With strong growth in both its biggest cities, Scotland’s market is on a strong footing with first time buyers contributing to this increase in activity. The increase in transactions is also encouraging, but we need to get more properties onto the market if that’s going to continue.”
