Scottish Property News

Edinburgh no longer most expensive region

Insecurity and loss of confidence following the banking crisis have seen £17,800 wiped off the value of the average house in the capital over the past year.

And the city's financial woes mean East Renfrewshire is now the most expensive place in Scotland to buy somewhere to live.

Average prices in areas such as Newton Mearns and Clarkston are now £214,000 compared to £208,000 in Edinburgh.

The capital has until now been seen as the benchmark for high-end properties.

Tony Perriam, head of residential sales at Rettie and Co, which has offices in Glasgow and Edinburgh, said he believed this ousting of the capital by East Renfrewshire could be unprecedented. He said: "I don't think Edinburgh has really been knocked from that pole position before."

Michael Luck, of Slater Hogg and Howison in Glasgow, said: "With what has happened with the banks in Edinburgh and the proportion of people employed by the banks, I am not really surprised."

The Glasgow market was relatively stable over the year with just a modest fall in average prices of 0.5% or £700 to £139,000 and Mr Perriam said he expected there would be a continued "slow" recovery in the market.

Overall the Scottish housing market is showing some sign of recovery as house prices rose by an average of 6% in the third quarter of 2009 but across the board sales were still down by nearly a fifth on last year.

Prices remain lower than this time last year as sales remain sluggish, according to the latest quarterly figures released by the Registers of Scotland (RoS).

The Scottish Government department - responsible for compiling and maintaining registers for property in Scotland - said that between July and September, the average cost of a house in Scotland was £154,453 - up from £145,553 in the previous quarter. But that showed a decrease of 3.6% when compared with the same time last year.

Total volume of sales in Scotland from July to September 2009 decreased by 19.8% compared to the same quarter last year.

Midlothian recorded the largest fall in sales with a decrease of 43.2%, and a sales value drop of 45.3% to £39.6 million over the same period. Only Argyll and Bute, Orkney Islands, Dundee City and Perth and Kinross have shown increases in average property prices compared to the previous year.

Edinburgh's market remains the largest with sales of just over £449 million between July and September, although it is down 24.4% over the same time just a year ago.

The figures come after news last week that prices across the UK have risen for the first time since March 2008.

Property values in October showed a 2% increase over the previous year, Nationwide Building Society reported.