Scottish home sellers buck the trend by raising asking prices during downturn

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Scottish homes
Scottish homes

Scotland’s property market is bucking the broader housing downturn, with sellers in the country raising their asking prices despite falls elsewhere.

Four of the top 10 local authorities where sellers have raised asking prices the most since values started falling last year were in Scotland, according to analysis by Rightmove.

Home sellers in West Lothian on the outskirts of Edinburgh have raised their asking prices by the biggest margin since values began falling nationally from August 2022 onwards.

West Lothian sellers have increased their asking prices by 7pc on average to £210,078, according to Rightmove.

Sellers in Inverclyde outside of Glasgow, Falkirk and Aberdeenshire have also increased their asking prices by 6pc on average.

Analysts said Scottish properties were outperforming the rest of the UK because homes there are more affordable, meaning rising interest rates have less of an impact on demand.

The average home in Scotland costs 4.5 times local earnings, according to Nationwide, compared to 6.4 times earnings across the UK. It makes Scotland one of the most affordable regions in Great Britain.

West Lothian, Falkirk and Inverclyde are also popular commuter towns for Glasgow and Edinburgh, providing a steady stream of interested buyers.

House owners in Inverclyde have increased their selling price by 6pc
House owners in Inverclyde have increased their selling price by 6pc - ALAN OLIVER / Alamy Stock Photo

Faisal Choudhry, director of Scottish residential research at Savills, said homes in West Lothian cost nearly a third less than those in neighbouring Edinburgh.

He said: “The value gap will still be attracting new buyers.”

Cameron Ewer, also of Savills, said the “race for space” that began during the pandemic was also still having an impact on the Scottish property market. 40pc of buyers are people moving over the border from England to seek out more space, he said.

Gary Moyse, of ReMax estate agents in Aberdeenshire, said buyers are relocating from the likes of Yorkshire, Somerset and Devon because they can get more land for their money.

House prices across the UK have dropped by 5.5pc, or £15,194, since the market peaked in August 2022, according to Nationwide data. Prices have tumbled as surging interest rates have made it more expensive to borrow.

The average rate on a two-year fixed-rate mortgage is now just under 6pc, according to Moneyfacts – more than double the average 2.29pc rate offered in November 2021 before the Bank of England began raising interest rates.

Despite asking prices rising north of the border while falling elsewhere, many Scottish homes remain cheaper than the rest of the UK.

The average selling price for a house across the UK was £258,557 in November – almost £50,000 more than sellers wanted for a West Lothian property even after a 7pc rise in asking prices.