House sales in Scotland reached a seven year high in July driven by “highly competitive” mortgage rates and lower stamp duty levels, a new report has found.
Property sales jumped six per cent in a month, with buyers capitalising on lower rates introduced by the Scottish Government’s Land and Buildings Transaction Tax.
Almost 10,000 houses moved through the market in July, the highest number of home purchases during a single month since 2008, the latest Your Move/Acadata house index said.
House prices also rose by 0.4 per cent between June and July, but are slightly down by £176 on the same time last year. However, this is most likely because of a slowdown at the top end of the market, with fewer properties worth £325,000 or more changing hands.
The report said that the average price for a house in Scotland is now £165,162.
Christine Campbell, Your Move managing director in Scotland, said: “Scottish property sales hit a seven-year pinnacle in July, recording the highest number of home purchases during a single month since July 2008.
“Activity has been picking up speed in recent months, and sales volumes climbed 6 per cent month-on-month to reach 9,775 in July.
The main factors influencing the growth in transactions in July were said to be the highly competitive mortgage rates on offer and the improving prospects for both employment and growth in the economy, along with the outcome of the UK general election which many had feared might end with a hung parliament.
Many first-time buyers are beginning to climb onto the property ladder, with the reductions in stamp duty rates under LBTT for the majority of purchasers believed to have had a positive effect.
The highest house price rise in mainland Scotland occurred in Edinburgh, where the value of property jumped by 3.7 per cent between June and July to an average of £225,282.
Stirling saw the biggest leap in property sales month-on-month in July, up 49 per cent, with flats the most commonly sold.
John Tindale, senior housing analyst for Acadata, said: “The growth in transactions took place in the middle and lower tiers of the market, with higher value homes still registering lower sales numbers in 2015 than in 2014, due to the LBTT.
“One of the consequences of the reduction in the number of sales at the top end of the market is that the average house price in Scotland in July 2015 is marginally lower than that recorded a year earlier.”
According to the ONS, the cost of a typical UK home rocketed by £5,000 in just one month to hit £282,000 in July, but Scotland was the only part of the UK to see prices fall, down 1.3 per cent to £196,000.
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