Scots house prices soar by £800 a month
08-14-2014
SCOTLAND’s housing boom is gathering pace, with property prices rising by almost £800 a month over the past year.
Much of the sale were made in Edinburgh and Glasgow [Doug Moir]
Annual house price growth reached a four-year high and the cost of an average home increased by £9,353 to £164,105.
This 5.7 per cent rise outpaced most other areas of the UK and means the average home is worth almost as much as it was before the 2008 financial crash.
According to the latest LSL Property Services and Acadata house price index, there was also a 15 per cent increase in the number of properties bought and sold in June. But experts warned that the increase in activity was driven by “a tale of two cities” as a quarter of all sales were made in Edinburgh and Glasgow.
Edinburgh was also the most expensive place to buy property, with a monthly rise in prices of 4.2 per cent, taking the average cost of a home in the Capital to £239,659, while a house in Glasgow cost £130,872 after a 4.5 per cent increase.
In Aberdeenshire, average property prices climbed to a new high of £228,802 last month.
Gordon Fowlis, regional managing director of Your Move, an estate agency chain that is part of LSL, said the average price rise was the biggest since September 2010, and added: “This is stronger than the annual rises in the north of England, the Midlands and Wales.
In June, average property prices dipped in half of all the local authority areas across Scotland
“While the majority of regions in England and Wales are witnessing price falls, the Scottish market is moving the other way.
“The Scottish housing market may appear sturdy, but there are many changes on the horizon to face. The annual growth we’re experiencing currently is still only a third of the 16 per cent recorded in August 2007 before the financial crisis.
“In June, average property prices dipped in half of all the local authority areas across Scotland. It may be on the track, but the housing recovery still requires careful steering to navigate upcoming obstacles and to ensure that the benefits are felt equally across the country.”
A fall in prices was recorded in areas including East Renfrewshire, Fife and Dundee, the latest data showed.
The largest increase was in the Shetland Islands, where average property values rose by 30 per cent over the course of the year to £144,896. The cheapest places to buy property are East Ayrshire, with an average price of £111,404, and the Western Isles, where the average was £102,222.
Dr Peter Williams, housing market specialist and chairman of Acadata, said: “The statistics show that there were substantial increases in the number of properties changing hands.
“Compared to May, 130 more flats were sold in Edinburgh in June and, in Glasgow, 60 more flats and 30 more terraces.
“In both cities, this increase in demand raised the average prices paid for flats, by £20,000 in Edinburgh and by £15,000 in Glasgow.”