Property Market Update April 2017

Selling Times Fall While Property Prices Continue to Rise

As we have seen throughout 2016 and the first quarter of 2017, the latest house price reports published by ESPC show that house prices are continuing to rise across East Central Scotland with selling times continuing to fall.

A recent report from ESPC reveals that the average selling price of a property in East Central Scotland has increased by 5.7% between January and March 2017 when compared to the same period the previous year, rising from £205,658 to £217,455.

Across Scotland as a whole, the latest Registers of Scotland (RoS) UK House Price Index (UK HPI) shows that, at the end of February 2017, the average selling price of a property in Scotland is £138,821 which represents a 3.1% year-on-year increase.

Commenting on these figures, Kenny Crawford, Director of Commercial Services for Registers of Scotland, commented, “Average prices continue to hold steady. February 2017 has continued the general upward trend seen in 2016, when every month – with the exception of March – showed an increase in average price when compared with the same month of the previous year.”

Buyer Demand Continues to Outstrip Property Supply

During the second half of 2016 and continuing into the first quarter of 2017, we have seen an ongoing imbalance between supply and demand in the Scottish housing market.

The latest sales figures released by ESPC show that between January and March 2017, the number of new homes coming to the market decreased by 4.9% year on year.

The same report also reveals that the average time taken for a property to sell in East Central Scotland fell from 41 days to 29 days, this means that properties are selling 29.1% faster when comparing January and March 2017 to 2016.

Across Scotland as a whole, the latest UK House Price Index (UK HPI) from Registers of Scotland (RoS) showed that, at the end of December 2016, the total volume of sales was 8,361 representing a 6.5% increase on the previous year.

In comparison, the decrease in sales volumes across the rest of the UK was more pronounced, with a drop of 19 % in England, 6.9% in Wales and 17.6% in Northern Ireland in the same period.

These decreases in sales, when compared with the decrease in the number of properties coming to the market, are largely in line with the reduction in supply of properties coming to the market.

Commenting on this, Registers of Scotland Director of Commercial Services, Kenny Crawford, said: “Sales volumes figures for December 2016 showed an increase in Scotland of 6.5% when compared with December 2015. This is up by 30.8 per cent when compared with December 2014, up by 17.2 per cent when compared with December 2013 and up by 44.3 per cent when compared with December 2012.”

For property sellers, current market conditions represent an excellent chance to get a great price in a relatively short time frame. With ferocious competition between potential buyers, we are seeing sellers achieving some fantastic results.

While the current market conditions could be daunting for potential buyers, if you are nervous about putting your home on the market for fear of being unable to find your next home, you can take steps to reduce the impact of selling before buying by following the tips in our video here.  

We’re Here to Help

If you are selling your home or investment property in 2017, please do get in touch with us by calling 0345 646 0208 (Option 1) or by emailing [email protected] to organise a free valuation of your home or to get a full, transparent breakdown of the costs of selling your home. Our expert Valuation Department can help you with suggestions to maximise the appeal of your home to buyers and get the best possible price if you are selling. For more tips about preparing for a property valuation, you can also check out our YouTube video, Getting the Best Possible Property Valuation.