We are delighted to release our latest sales Bulletin, courtesy of the Rettie research team, Scotland’s largest dedicated property research department.
Key Findings:
- Although sentiment surveys are pointing to a downward shift on the market, the actual statistics for the end of 2018 (Q4) have shown a fairly resilient market, with transactions and average prices up 1.8% and 3.7% respectively on Q4 2017 and Total Market Value (trades x price) up 5.1% YoY.
- Overall, while 2018 performed a little poorer than 2017 in terms of transaction activity (drop of under 3%), this occurred in the first ½ of the year and average prices rose by nearly 4% over the year.
The downside of average house prices rises is the dampening of affordability, most notably seen in recent years in Glasgow, although Aberdeen and Perth have seen rising affordability, with average house price to earnings ratios back to around 5.
- To date, the “Brexit effect” has been muted to say the least. UK wide stats, which have driven headlines, have been most significantly affected by the continuing cooling of the London and south East markets and the reduction in Buy to Let mortgages instigated by Government Policy.