Aberdeen property market showing signs of moving again

The property market in and around Aberdeen, which has been hit by the fall in oil price, is showing encouraging signs of activity according to latest figures from an independent property consultancy.

The report from CKD Galbraith reveals that its regional office in Cults has been successful in bringing more properties to the market in Aberdeenshire as well as reducing the average time taken to sell a property by almost three weeks.
 
CKD Galbraith’s Aberdeen statistics from the final quarter of 2015 show that the supply of properties coming onto the market increased by 50% quarter on quarter.

They also shows that the average time taken to sell a property was down by 32.75%, almost three weeks, compared to the previous quarter of 2015.
 
‘The Aberdeenshire property market has continued to show positive results throughout the final quarter of 2015 despite the downturn in the oil and gas industry in Aberdeen. We have been greatly encouraged by the increase in the number of properties coming onto the market and there has been a healthy appetite from buyers viewing properties,’ said Hannah Christiansen, head of residential at CKD Galbraith’s Aberdeen office.

‘Good properties at the lower end of the market continue to sell well, with good viewing levels and strong offers whilst the higher end of the market does continue to move, albeit its taking slightly longer. People are still moving home in Aberdeen and excellent property, in both city and rural locations, continue to be in demand,’ she explained.
 
‘The industry wide figures for sales in Aberdeen over the previous quarter have been down across the industry, as reported by the latest Registers of Scotland figures. However, we have witnessed a strong start to the year and as we enter the prime Spring selling period we are confident the market will see healthy activity with a flurry of properties for sale prior to the introduction of the 3% levy on second homes coming into place in April,’ she added.
 
The latest Registers of Scotland index report covering the final quarter of 2015 showed that the total volume of residential property sales in Scotland increased by 14.5% compared with the same period in the previous year. The average property price in the quarter was £167,734 an increase of 1.6% compared to the previous year.