Property data and estate agent prospecting platform, Homesearch.co.uk, analysed its property data to find out which agents in Scotland, by postcode area, have experienced the best or toughest market conditions.
It found that estate agents in Scotland have seen a 26% rise in year-on-year sales volumes on average, compared to just 13% in Harrogate - the highest area increase in sales across England and Wales. The Outer Hebrides (HS postcode) is the best-selling area for agents in Scotland and has experienced a 62% increase in sales transactions for the same period.
The following outlines the wider national picture and which estate agents have seen the largest increase in sales volumes in Scotland:
Outer Hebrides (HS postcode): +62%
Aberdeen (AB postcode): +42%
Edinburgh (EH postcode): +30%
Renfrewshire (PA postcode): +27.7%
Perth (PH postcode): +27.2%
Glasgow (G postcode): +25.7%
Dumfries and Galloway (DG postcode): +25.5%
Dundee (DD postcode): +23.6%
Inverness (IV postcode): +21%
Kilmarnock (KA postcode): +21%
Kirkcaldy (KY postcode): +19%
Kirkwall (KW postcode): +18%
Falkirk (FK postcode): +17.6%
Galashiels (TD postcode): +16.6 %
Motherwell (ML postcode): +16.1%
A key part of the study was to identify which postcodes are the most and least lucrative to estate agents. Edinburgh ranked 1st nationally, with over £4.2bn of property sales generated by agents in the city in the last 12 months.
The research found that Kirkcaldy estate agents have seen a 10.6% (£17,475) increase in average house prices year-on-year – the highest in Scotland. Conversely, Edinburgh saw the biggest fall (4.4% / £12,855) in average house prices year-on-year, although 81% of areas across Scotland have seen a positive uplift in sale prices.
Speed of sale is also key to estate agent businesses in Scotland, with properties taking 56 days on average to sell subject to contract from the date they went on the market.
Sam Hunter, co-founder and chief operating officer at Homesearch, commented: “It’s very clear from our data that the housing market in Scotland is buoyant compared to other areas of the UK where 72% have seen a decrease in sales transactions.
“At a time when house prices have risen significantly in the last 12 months, the challenge facing estate agent businesses - that aren’t experiencing rapid growth - is mainly a chronic shortage of sellable housing stock, with 29 buyers* on average competing for every one property on the market. Those agents will clearly have to work harder than ever to stimulate the market and win new instructions if they are to drive higher sales transactions.”
