In its 10 Year Property Market Report it provides all the trends in land and property since 2003. The data also shows that sales have dropped by 43.8% during the decade. However, the number of £1 million plus residential properties sold in Scotland doubled between 2003 and 2013.
Regarded as the peak of the market, the years from 2007 to 2008 saw the largest volume of homes sold in Scotland and these transactions accounted for the biggest annual market value of property during the 10 year period.
Registers of Scotland data is based on all property sales, even those which do not involve a mortgage, and as such the RoS 10 Year Property Market Report provides a highly comprehensive picture of the sector.
It has been possible to create the report for the first time as a decade has now passed since all land registration counties in Scotland came onto the modern map based Land Register.
‘Ten years on from all registration counties in Scotland coming on to the Land Register, we now have the fullest picture possible of the property market over the last decade,’ said Registers of Scotland director of commercial services Kenny Crawford.
‘The wealth of statistical data available to us is illustrated in this 10 Year Property Market Report. The figures detailing the market over recent years certainly make interesting reading and the story in the first half of the decade is very different from that in the latter half, as you’d expect given the magnitude of the economic downturn,’ he explained.
‘Moving forward, we’ll see in the coming years whether the improving signs recorded in 2012 to 2013 signify the beginnings of a recovery or a fresh stability to the Scottish property market,’ he added.
Overall the report shows that nationally, house prices grew steadily between 2003 and 2007, with fairly stable prices for the remainder of the 10 year period. Residential house price averages increased by 52.9% over the decade.
The average price in 2003 to 2004 was £100,987 and the average price in 2012 to 2013 was £154,387. The highest average price of the decade was achieved in the second quarter of 2010 to 2011. At this time, the average price for a property in Scotland was £163,360. The lowest average price of the decade was £91,089, which was achieved in the first quarter of 2003 to 2004.
The average prices of all property types have increased significantly since 2003, with flatted dwellings representing the largest share of the market at 40.2%.
Between 2003 and 2013, the number of residential properties sold for over a million pounds has doubled and in Scotland’s seven cities, average property prices have increased by 41.8%.
The height of the market in terms of volumes was in the second quarter of 2007 to 2008, with 42,496 residential sales applications.
The lowest volume of sales was 11,791 in the fourth quarter of 2008 to 2009. Nationally, the number of sales dropped significantly between the third and fourth quarters of 2007 to 2008. This fall coincided with the start of the economic downturn and radical changes in mortgage lending conditions.
Over the decade, sales volumes decreased by 43.8%, from 130,319 in 2003 to 2004 to 73,199 in 2012 to 2013. The number of sales being registered with a mortgage has fallen by 64.1% from the height of the market in 2006 to 2007.
Aberdeen City (local authority area) experienced the highest increase in average price. Over the 10 years, prices rose by 104.5% to the current average value of £187,298. By comparison, average prices rose by the least amount in Glasgow City (local authority area), where property values grew by 23.5% to £126,930.
