Property Market Update June 2018

Property Prices Hit New Highs

June temperatures have been hitting new highs, probably the least we deserve after the Beast from the East. And it seems that property prices are following suit. The trend of higher selling prices combined with fewer properties coming to the market continues.

A shortage of stock in the north of the UK has driven prices to a new national record, according to Rightmove. As steady monthly increases continue, the asking price of a newly-marketed property has risen for the third consecutive month by 0.4% (+£1,364).

In east central Scotland, the average selling price between March and May 2018 increased by 8.2% to £239,378 when compared with the same period last year, according to the ESPC. Average selling prices across Edinburgh rose by 9.0% in this period with properties in areas of high demand seeing even larger increases.

89.8% of properties listed between March and May 2018 were marketed as ‘Offers Over’ compared with 82.5% in 2017, and the percentage of sales achieving or exceeding their Home Report valuation rose from 74.4% between March and May 2017 to 78.7% in 2018.

The number of homes sold decreased by 11.5% annually and the number of new homes brought to market decreased by 6.0% annually. Data shows that the time to sell was one day slower this spring compared with last year. The median time to sell across east central Scotland was nineteen days and sixteen days in Edinburgh.

It’s still very much a seller’s market and there is a strong demand for property.

First Time Buyers

For first time buyers the outlook is reasonably positive and there appears to be an increasing number of buyers entering the market. The minimum deposit with the majority of lenders is now 5% and mortgage interest rates are at an all-time low with the Bank of England ‘base rate’ currently at 0.5%.

ESPC’s Business Analyst, Maria Botha-Lopez, says: “Just over a third of properties listed through ESPC member firms are being marketed with an asking price of less than £175,000 which is zero tax threshold for first time buyers introduced by the Scottish Government in its 2018-19 draft budget. While there is strong demand for property from many different sectors, there is support and stock for first time buyers looking to purchase their first home.”

We Do Like to Be Beside The Seaside

The current sunny weather brings to mind thoughts of sand, ice cream and sea! However, another positive of the seaside is that moving to the coast could save home buyers more than £24,000 compared to purchasing elsewhere, according to new figures. Bank of Scotland analysis found that buying a home in one of Scotland’s seaside towns now costs an average £24,396 less than the rest of Scotland. House prices in towns on the coast have risen at half the rate of the rest of the country, increasing by £7,980 (6%) in the last five years compared with a 12% rise across Scotland as a whole.

The report also highlighted an east/west house price divide, with nine of the top 10 most expensive properties located on the eastern coastline while nine out of the 10 least expensive seaside towns are on the west coast.

From Our Point of View

June was a strong month for sellers, with property sales agreed by our team being broadly in line with the number of property sellers taking the plunge to come to the market in this period.

There is a definite hesitancy amongst property sellers right now when it comes to getting their home onto the market with many afraid that they won’t find their new home after they have agreed a sale of their current home. That is leading to a significant increase in offers on properties that are ‘subject to sale’.

We would always recommend that anyone gets their property onto the market as soon as they can as ‘subject to sale’ offers are simply not as strong or likely to be accepted as an offer from a seller whose property is also ‘Sold Subject to Conclusion of Missives’.

We’re Here to Help

If you are thinking of selling your home or investment property, get in touch with us by calling 0345 646 0208 (Option 1) or by emailing [email protected] to organise a free valuation of your home or to get a full, transparent breakdown of the costs of selling your home.

You can also now instantly book a free valuation appointment, online, by following this link.

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