Taylor Scott International News
Premium property sales in Edinburgh increased year on year in January, but the average sale prices was down, according to new research on the Scottish residential market. Across Scotland, 535 premium properties were sold in January, up from 494 a year ago. A total of 5,330 mainstream market properties under £300,000 were sold in January, up from 4,144 in January 2015. The average value of a house in Scotland in January was £163,610, down from £166,682 in January 2015. A total of 148 properties over £300,000 were registered as sold in the Scottish capital in the first month of the year, up from 131 in 2015, 136 in 2014 and 109 in 2013, the data from estate agency Strutt & Parker shows. Indeed the average sale price in January was £227,899, down from £236,696 in January 2015 and the premium market share, that is the percentage of all sales that were greater than £300,000, was 21.1%, down from 23.9% in January last year and the 40% recorded in March at the height of the sales rush before the introduction of Land and Buildings Transaction Tax. ‘It is very encouraging to note that registered sales are up year on year. The average price is down but by a relatively insignificant amount and it is not something I am worried about. In many respects the sales market is still adjusting to the unprecedented rush of premium sales before the introduction of LBTT last year, which saw record numbers of premium sales and the average price in Edinburgh spike at £320,257,’ said Blair Stewart, partner in Strutt & Parker's Edinburgh office. He pointed out that looking back at 2015, the value of Scottish property sales increased 8.2% on 2014 and the number of transactions was up by 4.5%. Edinburgh sales in particular were up 8.3% to 11,991, which was largely a reflection of the LBTT effect. ‘LBTT aside, however, the Edinburgh premium market has grown steadily in recent years from the lows seen in 2009. It has shown strength in the early months of 2016 and we have some very exciting new properties on our books so I am reasonably optimistic about where we are,’ added Stewart. In the market area covered by Highland Local Authority, premium sales in January numbered 18, down from 37 in December and 25 in November, but up from 12 in January 2015, 13 in January 2014. The premium market share stood at 7.9% in January, down from the 10.9% high recorded in March. In Aberdeenshire premium sales registered in January at 42 were down on the same month a year ago when 61 such sales took place. This cooling contrasted with a strong finish at the end of 2015 which saw 122 and 120 premium sales respectively in November and December. The data average property price in Aberdeenshire in January was £203,329, down from £229,476 at the start of 2015. According to David Strang-Steel, partner in Strutt & Parker's Banchory… Taylor Scott International
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