Scottish house sales in excess of £750k are likely to be double those in 2018, Walker Fraser Steele predicts.
Average house price in Scotland were up by 9.3% over the past 12 months as transactions increased by 11% on 2019 levels, according to the latest Scottish House Price Index from the firm.
Overall the average house price was up 0.2% in November and now stands at £213,.109
In total 31 of the 32 Local Authorities continued to see rising average prices over year to end November.
Alan Penman, business development manager at Walker Fraser Steele, said: “The national growth rate in house prices of 9.3% remains exceptionally high. The ongoing ‘race for space’ continues to support demand for properties that offer the room to live and work in a pandemic environment.
“Working from home has changed where people want to live and the type of property they want to own.
“The subsequent increase in top-end sales last year has been a result of home movers seeking out properties better suited to their updated needs.
“Additional support was provided through the tax savings from the Land and Buildings Transaction Tax holiday that was available up to the end of March 2021. This encouraged the whole market to be more adventurous.
“Even now, competition among purchasers, a lack of suitable stock, and the continued very low interest rates supporting affordable mortgage debt means that there is currently plenty of good headwind to sustain prices.
“So while rates of growth in house prices may be stabilising in Scotland, the housing market in November still saw an increase in the average house price of £484, which is 0.2% higher than in October.
“Sales volumes from May to November 2021 look roughly on a par with, or slightly ahead of, previous years, perhaps suggesting that the market has now returned to its pre-pandemic transaction levels, but in summary it is fair to say Scottish house prices have enjoyed another strong year often outperforming the UK average.”
John Tindale, Acadata senior housing analyst, added: “The November housing market Last month we indicated that Scotland’s rate of house price growth was starting to slow, as the annual rate reduced from 13.1% in September to a (revised) rate of 11.5% in October.
“This month (November), the rate of annual growth continues to reduce – to 9.3% – which represents a modest quickening in the rate of decline from October.
“We would point out, however, that a national growth rate in house prices of 9.3% is exceptionally high, and does not occur particularly frequently.
“For example, in the 166 months since January 2008, the national growth rate in house prices in Scotland has only exceeded a rate of 9.3% on 10 occasions, with 7 of those occurring during the pandemic in 2021. Historic records would therefore tend to suggest that price growth will slow.
“However, demand for properties with more space remains high. Rightmove reported that on Boxing Day 2021, property searches on their website set new record levels, with Glasgow featuring as the fifth most searched-for location in 2021, while Edinburgh stood in ninth position.
“Competition among prospective buyers for properties remains strong, which is helping to maintain current asking prices. In addition, interest rates remain low on a historic perspective, even if the Bank of England has been dropping hints that rates are likely to move up in the near future.”
