At the end of July 2016, the property market in East Central Scotland is still showing extremely healthy buyer demand, say local solicitors and estate agents.
Latest figures released by the ESPC for the period between April and June of 2016 show that the number of homes sold in East Central Scotland decreased by 5.6% annually, while property prices in East Central Scotland have increased by 6.3% annually in the same period. However, there has also been a significant drop in the same period in the number of people putting their properties on the market compared with the previous year. With less available stock, it is not surprising that the level of enquiries has dropped.
Whilst the overall volume of sales has decreased, solicitor estate agent firm MOV8 Real Estate, is reporting an increase of 8.2% n the volume of sales so far in 2016 across East Central Scotland, with a similar annual increase of 7.2% in the number of new properties coming onto the market.
Robert Carroll, Managing Director of MOV8 Real Estate, Estate Agents and Solicitors believes that there remains a lot of cause for confidence for property sellers within the East Central Scotland market.
“Whilst the latest ESPC figures do show an annual decrease in the number of properties sold, there has been a significant drop in the number of people putting their properties on the market this summer compared with the same period last year. In our experience, buyer confidence in the property market does not seem to have been affected in the slightest by the so-called Brexit vote.
“Since before the EU referendum we have consistently been saying that as the property market in Scotland is relatively insular, it is granted a level of protection from the fluctuations in the city of London, where a weakening of housing market activity is likely being felt most acutely.
“We are seeing business as usual in Edinburgh and the surrounding areas, with sale times consistently quicker than they have been for several years and property prices remaining strong.”
Carroll believes that the recent decision of the Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee’s not to cut interest rates and to keep the Bank Rate (commonly referred to as ‘The Bank of England Base Rate’) at 0.5% is good news for the local property market.
“The Bank of England’s decision to keep interest rates at their current level, as well as the continuing availability of mortgage products at attractive rates for buyers, means that investing in the Scottish property market remains an attractive option.
“In spite of recent events and the fluctuations in the City of London markets, we believe that we will continue to see a healthy demand from property buyers in Scotland. Anyone thinking of selling their own home can take advantage of lower-than-usual property stock levels which are leading to reduced selling times and increasing sale prices.”
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