Registers of Scotland’s recent report on the latest market conditions for 2021-22 certainly makes for an interesting read. Staggeringly, the report notes that since 2003-04, the average price of a residential property in Scotland has doubled.
Whilst some of the comparisons to the year 2020-21 should be read with caution, due to the pandemic and the reduction of the LBTT Nil Rate Band to £145,000, the market remains strong, as evidenced in the following quote:
“The total value of the residential sales market exceeded £22bn in 2021-22, an increase of 20% compared with 2020-21. This is the highest level seen since the peak year of 2007/08, when the market value of residential sales reached £22.9bn.” Janet Egdell (Registers of Scotland Accountable Officer).
However, when comparing figures between those recorded for the year 2006-07 and 2021-22, for residential sales between £20,000 and £1 million, there has been a decrease of 26% across Scotland as a whole. The only areas showing an increase over this time period were Midlothian (12%), Angus (4.7%), Na h Eileanan Siar (20%) and Orkney Islands (3.5%). The increases in these particular areas could be connected to the surging popularity of more rural areas over the course of the last couple of years despite the average price in urban areas of Scotland being £176,172 compared with £228,899 in rural areas. In spite of the desire to live in the countryside, the local authority areas of Glasgow City and City of Edinburgh topped the charts in 2021-22 with the largest recorded sales of 12,482 and 12,010 respectively, accounting for 22% of all 110,248 residential sales. The market picked up between the year 2011-12 (this was the lowest year in terms of residential sales), and 2021-22 with the total number of residential sales growing by a massive 57%.
Residential purchases in 2021-22 saw a record breaking 35,617 cash sales being registered, accounting for 32% of the residential market. The Report notes that this marks the highest recorded figure in the time series. Perhaps there has been a reluctance to obtain a mortgage, where possible, due to rising interest rates and general financial market uncertainty. The statistics also show that flat sales were higher than house sales in the same year which is quite surprising due to the increase in home working bringing with it the need for more space and the desire for more outdoor grounds after being housebound during the lockdowns. The statistics do note, however, that the average price of a flat increased by 4.3% (average price £151,454) between 2020-21 and 2021-22 in comparison to an increase of 8.9% (average price £307,758) for a detached house. The average price of a flatted property is certainly more affordable to a cash purchaser.
Whilst this is only a snippet of the Registers report it shows that the market is buoyant and seems to be recovering well. As we have continually seen over the course of the pandemic, it’s a sellers’ market and that trend certainly seems to be continuing.
If you have any questions, please contact a member of the Blackadders Residential Conveyancing Team working in Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Perth and across Scotland.
