Christine Campbell, regional managing director of Your Move, comments: “Following almost a year of fair winds and steadfast price rises, this is the second month in succession to muddy the waters, with average property values in Scotland falling a further 0.4% in September. Two of the most expensive areas of the country saw the tide turn, with prices in Edinburgh dropping 1.3% during September, and Aberdeenshire seeing a slump of 1.2% over the month – reflecting the ripples in evidence in prime central areas of London, as the top tier of the housing market experiences the keenest downturn.
While Scottish house prices have sailed up nearly £8,000 in the last twelve months overall, the rate of annual growth appears to have changed tack, easing back to 5.1% in September from 5.8% in August. Since June, the monthly pace of house price growth has ebbed away, as doubt raged over the future of Scotland within the United Kingdom, and touched the brakes on activity in the housing market.
However, these shifts we’re seeing on the surface haven’t uprooted the solid foundations of the recovery, with average house prices across 81% of Scotland standing taller than a year previously. East Renfrewshire towers ahead in terms of annual price growth, with property values soaring 13.4% in the year to September 2014, and new price peaks were reached in East Lothian and Aberdeen City, as activity continues to build. The price of a detached home in Aberdeen City has risen by an average £15,000 over the last three months, to total £410,000.
September also saw sales snap back after the vote put the lid on uncertainty, and transactions were up 15% year-on-year, compared to only 7% growth over the twelve months to August. After the ground that was lost in August, renewed demand saw more vigorous activity buck the usual seasonal pattern, and this was the strongest September for house sales in seven years.”
Dr Peter Williams, housing market specialist and Chairman of Acadata, comments:
"In September, house prices in Scotland fell on a seasonally adjusted basis by £587, or 0.4%, to £163,630. This is the second month in succession that we have seen prices fall, after a run of eleven months of price rises. The fall in prices goes against the trend seen in England & Wales, where all regions saw prices increase in September, except for the North and East Anglia, where prices fell by 0.2% and 0.1% respectively. However, we can note that all regions in England & Wales saw a decline in the rate of growth of house prices during the month, with the exception of the North West,.
In Greater London in September there was a noticeable trend that prices in the most expensive parts of the capital, the prime central locations, were starting to decline, with five of the top six most expensive boroughs seeing price falls in the month. In Scotland, only two of the top six local authority areas saw a decline in prices in the month, although this did include Edinburgh where prices fell by 1.3%, perhaps mirroring the sentiment currently being experienced in central London."
