Scotland is still registering annual house price rises of 4.9%, although the last quarter to October saw prices fall by 4%, the largest in the sixteen years of the report says the latest Lloyds TSB Scottish House Price Monitor. Transactions have also fallen in Scotland by 43%, the report states.
* Luxury property for sale in Scotland
However, regionally the picture is very diverse: price falls in the east are being offset by gains in Glasgow city, while properties at the lower end of the market are holding their value better than those at the top. For instance prices in Edinburgh are showing significant falls over the last quarter of 7.3%, and Aberdeen and Dundee are also registering falls, but Glasgow is showing a pattern of rises. Rural areas are proving to be a mixed bag with prices in the south west around what they were at the start of the year, while prices in the north recorded a fall of 2.1% over the quarter but a robust annual increase of 10.4%.
Prices in Central, Perth, Fife and Tayside all fell by 6.3% but retain an annual increase of 4.9% while the South East is virtually unchanged on an annual basis, and showed a quarterly increase of 2.2%.
These figures show Scotland slowly halting its price growth and falling in line with the rest of the country in recording house price falls. ‘The Scottish economy is entering a significant slowdown with rising claimant unemployment and falling consumer confidence, states the report.
‘Although retail sales continue to show an annual increase, the rate of increase has declined over the last three quarters. The number of housing transactions has declined markedly since one year ago. However, the market is adjusting to lower prices and sales.
‘The Scottish housing market has adjusted to changed economic circumstances, reduced mortgage availability and falling consumer confidence with lower sales and in some cases lower prices. So far, the Scottish housing market is showing sensible adjustment rather than a precipitous collapse,’ it continues.
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