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First-time Buyers

Sales up but prices down in Glasgow and West

paulajohn
Written By:
paulajohn
Posted:
Updated:
08/04/2013

The level of property transactions has picked up in Glasgow and West Central Scotland, but average values have fallen.

According to the latest data from the Glasgow Solicitors Property Centre (GSPC), house prices in the most populous part of Scotland are down 5% on this time last year, although the number of sales completed in the last 10 weeks has risen by 6.5%, and selling times are down 25%.

The average selling price in the region is now £115,000, almost £6,000 lower than March 2012, and roughly back to where the figure stood at the beginning of 2005.

Meanwhile the average time it takes to sell a home has fallen from six months last year to 4.5 months now. Average property values are now broadly back to where they were at the start of 2005.

Selling times, however, have fallen from around six months this time last year to four and half months today. This fact, combined with lower prices, points to a change in vendor behavior, with home sellers no longer holding out for the highest possible price but adjusting their prices to move more quickly.

Professor Gwilym Pryce of Glasgow University, who analysed the data, said:

“It is unwise to read too much in to the results for any individual quarter. Nevertheless, it seems as though the Scottish housing bubble has not burst but is gradually deflating. The decline has been exacerbated by continuing economic stagnation at home and across Europe. At some point, prices will bottom-out. Meanwhile, if you’ve got the cash, houses are becoming more affordable than they have been for nearly a decade”.

GSPC chief executive, Mark Hordern, added:

“A combination of lower prices and faster sales suggest that sellers have come to terms with the new market realities and are now determined to move, even if it means accepting a lower price for their home than they had originally hoped for. Given that the purchase price of their next home is also likely to be lower, that probably makes sense. But it takes two to tango and there is growing anecdotal evidence that buyers are also becoming more decisive.

“We have seen an increasing number of closing dates, a rarity until very recently. Buyers who have been ‘playing the field’ are now ready to commit – provided the price is right.

“The recovery in sales that started last autumn seems to have continued in to the spring. Given that early 2012 saw a sharp increase in activity, the fact that sales in recent weeks have been better than they were then is very encouraging.

“Last year, that positive start came to an abrupt halt amid renewed concerns about the future of the Euro which sent mortgage lending into reverse. With Funding for Lending in place and Help to Buy due to be launched in nine months’ time, that seems less likely this time round.

“Although the headline figures on selling prices look weak, there is growing evidence of an underlying improvement in market conditions”