Property sales bounce up 15% after general election

Property sales rose sharply after the general election as more than 10,200 homes changed hands in Scotland in December.

The figure was up 15% on the previous month, according to Aberdein Considine’s property monitor, with sales increasing in the majority of local authority areas.

Sales were boosted in 25 of the 32 local authority areas and £1.9bn of property was purchased in December – £176m more than in December 2018.

Jacqueline Law, managing partner at Aberdein Considine, said: “After a year of political and economic uncertainty, it would appear that the decisive nature of the election result has brought a fresh wave of confidence to the property market.

“And while Scottish votes contributed little to the Prime Minister’s parliamentary majority, it looks like the country’s homeowners may well benefit in the years ahead.

“You have to go back to December 2007, before the global credit crunch, to find a higher month of pre-Christmas property sales.

“As we head into the spring market, there is every sign that this trend will continue, thanks largely to an injection of first-time buyers using new shared equity schemes.”

Across Scotland, property prices rose 2.2% in the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2019 compared to the same period the previous year, to a national average of £178,151.

The report found East Lothian has become the most expensive place in Scotland to buy a property.

The average sale price in the region was £267,905 in Q4 of 2019, more than £2000 higher than Edinburgh, which was in second place.

East Dunbartonshire recorded the largest price rise during the quarter to become the country’s third most expensive area, with an average sale price of £263,291.

Prices were stable in Aberdeen at £194,528, down just 0.1% on the previous year.

However there was a 10.1% increase in sales in Aberdeen in the last quarter of the year, the biggest quarterly increase since the oil and gas industry slump in 2015.

Last year the total value of sales in Scotland came to just under £18.7bn, which was £550m more than 2018.