Properties Across Scotland Selling for An Average of £14k More Than Asking Price
According to the latest quarterly Scottish House Price Report (October – December 2018), published by s1homes.com, properties across Scotland are selling for an average of £14,000 more than their asking price. This quarter the average selling price remained static at the £181,000 mark while the average asking price increased slightly by 1.1% to £167,501.
In Edinburgh, properties sold on average for £32,000 more than their asking price, up from £28,000 last quarter. The average asking price increased by 1% to £240,733 and the average selling price rose by 2% to £272,694. In Glasgow/Dunbartonshire, properties sold at £32,000 above their asking price, a reduction of almost £8,000 from the previous quarter. This is driven by 1.5% growth in the asking price to £135,631 and a drop in the average selling price of nearly £6,000 to £167,876.
Average Price of a Property in Scotland Up 2.4% On Previous Year
The latest publication of the monthly UK House Price Index (December 2018) shows that the average price of a property in Scotland was £148,711, an increase of 2.4% on December in the previous year and a decrease of 0.9% when compared to the previous month. This compares to a UK average of £230,776, which was an increase of 2.5% on December in the previous year and an increase of 0.2% when compared to the previous month.
Registers of Scotland Operations Director and Accountable Officer, Janet Egdell, said: “Average prices in Scotland continued their upward trend in December with an increase of 2.4% when compared to December 2017. While the average price has increased each month since March 2016, when compared with the same month of the previous year, the trend in sales volume has not been as positive. The volume of residential sales in Scotland increased in October, but has decreased in most months since November 2017, when compared with the same month of the previous year.”
Average price increases were recorded in the majority (25) of local authorities in December 2018, when comparing prices with the previous year. The biggest price increases were in Midlothian and Stirling where average prices increased by 15.2% to £190,031 and 8.3% to £187,620 respectively. The largest decreases were recorded in Aberdeen City and East Dunbartonshire, where average prices fell by 6.5% to £152,799 and 1.4% to £209,182 respectively.
Continued Increase in Properties Coming to Market in East Central Scotland
November 2018 to January 2019 saw a 21.6% increase year-on-year in the number of homes coming to market in east central Scotland, according to the ESPC. This is slightly less pronounced than the annual increase in the fourth quarter of 2018 of 23.9%, but still indicates seller confidence in the current market conditions. The increase in the number of homes coming to market in recent months has had a positive effect on sales volume, which has increased by 11.9% year-on-year.
From November 2018 to January 2019, the average selling price in east central Scotland rose to £239,709, which was a 3.6% increase compared to the same period last year and a less pronounced increase than we have seen in previous months. Within Edinburgh, the average selling price rose by 5.1% to £262,911 compared to £250,103 last year.
Homes in east central Scotland are continuing to achieve relatively short selling times. Between November 2018 and January 2019, the median selling time in east central Scotland was 23 days, three days slower than the same three months last year. The average percentage of Home Report valuation achieved was 102.7%, which was a 0.8% decrease on the same period last year.
Jamie Fraser-Davidson, Business Analyst at ESPC, said: “From November 2018 to January 2019 there was a continued increase in the number of homes coming to market compared to last year. This is good news for buyers as they have a greater volume of homes to choose from. Average selling prices are still increasing in comparison to last year which, coupled with the significant annual increase in sales volume, shows that buyer demand is still relatively strong at present.”
Scotland’s Most Affordable Cities
In the past five years, house prices have risen dramatically in Stirling, homes in Glasgow have become less affordable and Aberdeen has seen the biggest improvement in affordability, according to new research by the Bank of Scotland.
Stirling is the most affordable city in the UK when comparing average house price to wages. The average house price in Stirling is now £192,326, which is more than four times local average earnings. This is below the overall average ratio in Scotland of 5.4 and the UK average of 7.5. The average house price in Stirling has increased by 41% in the last five years, faster than any other Scottish city. In 2013, the average house price was £136,036, rising to £192,326 in 2018. The affordability of homes in Glasgow has declined the most in the last five years (4.5 to 5.5 times average earnings).
The average house price across all Scottish cities increased by 3.7%, from £190,250 in 2017 to £197,308 in 2018. The average earnings increased by 3.3%, resulting in home affordability remaining broadly stable over the past 12 months (from 5.36 to 5.38 times average earnings). Aberdeen and Perth are the only cities to see an improvement in average home affordability over the past year. Inverness, Dundee and Stirling saw a decline but still feature in the top 20 most affordable UK cities.
From Our Point of View
Commenting on the month’s property news and statistics, MOV8 Real Estate’s Managing Director, Robert Carroll, stated:
“I had some concern that wall-to-wall Brexit coverage could at least temporarily dampen people’s enthusiasm for getting their properties onto the market or for buying a new home or investment property in early 2019. However, I am not seeing any indication of that at the moment.
The major property market reports indicate that prices continue to rise and that selling times are historically low. Our own experience is that most areas of the property market seem to be resisting any negative Brexit-related sentiment.
The strength of the market is not limited to the traditionally-strong Edinburgh and Lothians market either. We listed a property for sale in Glasgow last week and, in the seller’s own words:
“Flat put on the market at 12 noon Friday. First viewing booked at 14:30. Offer received at 18:00 Friday and accepted. Written offer received at 11:00 Monday morning!”
We see no reason to be pessimistic about the Scottish property market at the moment. That’s why we have recently expanded our property sales operations across the whole of the country so that we can bring our zero commission, 5-star solicitor and estate agency services to property sellers across the whole of Scotland.”
We’re Here to Help
If you are thinking of selling your home or investment property, 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.
You can also instantly book a free valuation appointment online by following this link.
If you are looking to buy a property as a home or investment, please call 0345 646 0208 (Option 2) or email [email protected] and we will be happy to help.
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