Scottish real estate market stabilises, latest index shows

 
On an annual, underlying basis Scottish house prices have increased by 4.6%, and the average property is now priced at £165,284, says the index from Lloyds TSB Scotland.
 
In the three months ending October 2010, the quarterly price index for the average domestic property market in Scotland rose by 3.7%, it also shows.
 
The latest property price movement has been generated from a market with a low number of sales. The number of house purchases recorded in this quarter’s Monitor is 17% down on the last quarter and 10% below the same quarter of last year.
 
When compared to 2009, for the market as a whole, Scottish house purchases in September of this year are 3% less. This is the second consecutive monthly fall in the number of house purchases following five consecutive months of increases. The number of housing transactions in the Scottish market is around half of pre-recession levels.
 
‘The Scottish economy exited recession at the end of last year but then showed a decline in output in the first quarter of this year. After five quarters of declining output in the last seven, the Scottish economy recorded a robust increase of 1.3% in growth in the three months ending June 2010,’ said Donald MacRae, chief economist, Lloyds TSB Scotland.
 
‘The Scottish housing market has adjusted to this changing economic environment. Sales have halved but have now stabilised while prices, after an initial fall, are now showing an annual increase comparable to retail price inflation,’ he explained.
 
The outlook is flat. ‘There are no signs of a precipitate fall in house prices. Likewise there is little prospect of significant house price gains in the immediate future,’ he added.
 
Aberdeen has seen the best property market in terms of price increases, up 15.3% annually, with an average house price of £224,672. While the south east of the country, excluding Edinburgh, has seen prices fall by 0.2% over the last 12 months.
 
Dundee saw prices rise 5.6%, in Edinburgh they were up 3.9% and in Glasgow up 1.3%. The north of the country, excluding Aberdeen, saw price increases of 3.4%, the Central region, Fife, Perth and Tayside, saw prices fall 0.7% and the south west was up 5.2%.