Leafy suburbs in Glasgow including Bearsden, Milngavie and Bishopbriggs have seen property prices edge ahead, according to the latest figures from the Registers of Scotland, the government department which records every property deal in the country.
Its latest report for the fourth quarter of 2010 shows that in Edinburgh average property prices increased by 3.9% year on year to £216,597, but in East Dunbartonshire, where the Glasgow suburbs are, prices soared 10.5% to an average of £216,644, beating the capital into second place by just £47.
But Edinburgh continues to retain its title as the largest market in the country with sales in the last quarter of £428 million, well ahead of nearest rivals Glasgow with sales of just £291 million. But overall the volume of sales in Scotland was down 6.4% compared with 2009.
However, overall, prices held up well during the last three months of the year with the average Scottish home now costing £158,213, up 1.7% on the same period in the previous year.
Kenny Crawford, head of commercial services at the Registers of Scotland said that there was over £3 billion worth of property that changed hands during the last three months of 2010.
All four property types, detached, semi detached, terraced and flats, saw fewer sales. Prices increased for detached and semi detached houses. Terraced and flat experienced the smallest decline in sales.
‘Edinburgh was overtaken by East Dunbartonshire as the local authority area with the highest average price but the City of Edinburgh remains the largest market,’ he said.
But there are significant regional variations with some areas experiencing a rise in property prices but some showing decreases. In Clackmannanshire prices fell 13.7% but in East Dunbartonshire they increased by 10.5%. In terms of sales there was a 4.1% increase in South Lanarkshire and a fall 23.5% in Moray in the north of Scotland.
Meanwhile, a survey shows that Scots place a greater importance on owning their own home than people in any other part of the UK. Some 84% rated owning their own home as a key priority in life above the national average and the highest percentage of any UK region, the poll from house builders Barratt Scotland shows.
It also found that 56% of Scottish respondents expect property prices to rise over the next three years, this compares with just 13% who expect them to fall during the same period. And when asked which class of investment was likely to give the best financial return over the next ten years, 42% of Scottish respondents said residential property.
Barratt Scotland has said that the Scottish market is outperforming much of the rest of the UK, with property hotspots in Aberdeen and Glasgow. ‘This helps to explain why the housing market in Scotland is doing relatively well at the moment the Scots set a very high value on owning their own home,’ said Doug McLeod, managing director of Barratt Scotland.
