HOUSE prices rose by more than £50,000 on average in Scotland during the last ten years as the property boom fuelled an unprecedented surge in the value of people’s homes.
Despite the crash in the market brought about by the economic downturn, new figures suggest homeowners are still placed to enjoy a massive return on their investment if they bought their property during the good years.
The report, published yesterday by Registers of Scotland, shows house prices climbed steadily between 2003 and 2007, before flattening out when the credit crunch hit. However, they have remained broadly stable in the last six years and there are signs the market is beginning to pick up as confidence returns to the economy.
Across the country residential house price averages increased by 52.9% over the decade, with the average price of £100,987 in 2003/04 rising to £154,387 this year.
Aberdeen City enjoyed the highest increase in average prices, with properties doubling in price in the past 10 years. The average price of a property in the city is now £187,298, compared with £91,573 in 2003/04.
The smallest rise was in Glasgow City, where average prices grew by a 25% to reach £126,930.
The report is the first to examine a decade of data collated from all areas of the country via the Land Register and Registers of Scotland. Director of Commercial Services Kenny Crawford said it revealed the “fullest picture possible” of the property market.
He said: “The figures detailing the market over recent years certainly make interesting reading. The story in the first half of the decade is very different from that in the latter half, as you’d expect given the magnitude of the economic downturn.
“We’ll see in the coming years whether the improving signs recorded in 2012-13 signify the beginnings of a recovery or a fresh stability to the Scottish market.”
The value of all property types has increased significantly since 2003, with flats representing the largest share of all sales at 40.2%.
At the top end of the market, the number of residential properties sold for over a million pounds doubled. There were 105 such sales in 2012/13, compared with just 52 in 2003/04.
The highest number of high-value sales were in the City of Edinburgh, although its share fell from 55% in 2003/04 to 44% in 2012/13, while Aberdeen City showed the biggest increase, rising from 3% to 14% over the decade.
Despite the rise in property values, the total number of sales fell as fewer homeowners have been willing to enter the market.
During the decade, sales decreased from 130,319 in 2003-04 to 73,199 in 2012-13. The lowest volume of sales was 11,791, during the fourth quarter of 2008-09.
However, Sharon Donaldson, sales director at Slater Hogg & Howison, said there were now clear signs of confidence.
She said: “In January and February things were quite slow but there has been a significant pick up since then. Some weeks this year we have been tracking at levels not seen in three or four years.
“The industry had been working on prices being around 10% below home report values but we are now seeing many more homes going for the home report value or slightly above.”
Blair Stewart, national partner at Strutt & Parker Edinburgh, said “green shoots of recovery” were beginning to show, although there remains a two-tier market in Scotland.
He said: “Homes valued between three and nine hundred thousand in the central belt are very sought after
“Above that, there is a great deal of caution.”
Source: Herald Scotland
