The past month has seen a variety of conflicting reports in the Press about property prices ranging from ‘Experts say house prices could plummet by 40 PER CENT in crash similar to 1990s’ to articles about house price rises causing a lack of affordability for buyers. In the face of such varied reporting, here is our own summary based on our extensive experience of what has been happening in the property market in your area.
Prices Across Scotland and the UK Rising
The latest figures released by the Registers of Scotland indicate that the average price of a property in Scotland in May 2017 was £143,106, representing an increase of 3.5% on May 2016. Commenting on this, Registers of Scotland Business Development and Information Director, Kenny Crawford, said:
“Average prices in May continued their upward trend when compared with May 2016. There have been increases in every month since March 2016 when compared with the same month of the previous year.”
Across the UK as a whole, Nationwide reported in their House Price Index that property prices increased by 3.1% in June, up from 2.1% in May 2017.
A picture of doom and gloom for homeowners (as reported by the Mirror Online, in particular) it most certainly isn’t.
East Central Scotland Property Market Shows Resilience With Continued Growth
Continuing the trend of the past few months, the ESPC recently released data showing that the average selling price of a property in East Central Scotland increased by 5.2% between April and June 2017, from £219,710 to £231,016, when compared to the same period the year before.
There is no doubt that East Central Scotland continues to outperform the rest of Scotland and the past month has been no exception to this.
Seller’s Market Continues
The continued increase in property prices and current seller’s market is undoubtedly driven by a lack of fresh properties coming to the market to satisfy buyer demand. The ESPC reported that the number of new homes coming to the market between April and June 2017 fell by 5.8% when compared to the same period the year before. Meantime, the number of sales decreased by just 1.7%, illustrating that supply is continuing to outstrip demand. The predictable effect is that selling times continue to drop. The average time it is taking MOV8 to sell a property is currently just 15 days, based on April to June 2017’s figures. This is 24.8% faster than the same period in 2016. We would like to ascribe this entirely to our own genius, but there is no doubt that market forces play a huge part in this.
Commenting on the current market conditions, MOV8’s Founder, Robert Carroll, said:
“With agents unable to get enough stock on the market to satisfy the level of buyer demand, selling times continue to fall and prices continue to rise as supply fails to meet demand. It’s a fantastic time to be a property seller in Scotland. However, we would hope that the strong market for sellers will encourage more of them to put their homes on the market to satisfy the continued buyer demand and to ease the pressure on homebuyers.”
For helpful tips about how to minimise the risks of getting your own property on the market if you haven’t yet found a home to buy, see our YouTube video.
We’re Here to Help
If you are thinking of 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.
You can also now instantly book a free valuation appointment, online, by following this link.
For more tips about preparing for a property valuation, you can also check out our YouTube video, Getting the Best Possible Property Valuation.
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