Scottish market dominates top 20 busiest housing markets

The latest research by the nation’s largest estate agency group, Lomond, has revealed that no less than eight of the top 20 best performing property markets are currently located north of the border, whilst Birmingham currently ranks as the strongest area of the British property market outside of Scotland.

Lomond analysed the latest market data on transactional volumes, looking at which areas of the market are currently seeing the highest level of activity based on the average number of properties being sold on a monthly basis.

The figures show that, across Britain, an average of 40,269 homes are currently being sold each and every month.

Scotland tops the table when it comes to the highest level of regional market activity, with an average of 7,261 homes sold each month – accounting for 18% of the national total.

Further analysis by Lomond shows that this Scottish dominance is also clear at local authority level, with no less than eight of the top 20 best performing markets located north of the border.

Glasgow is currently Britain’s home selling hotspot, where an average of 899 properties are changing hands on a monthly basis.

Edinburgh isn’t far behind with 837 homes sold on average each month, whilst Fife completes a Scottish top three with an average of 525 homes sold per month.

Other Scottish market areas to feature within the top 20 include South Lanarkshire (6th), Falkirk (10th), Aberdeen (11th), Renfrewshire (12th) and North Lanarkshire (16th).

Outside of Scotland, it’s Birmingham that currently ranks top where market activity is concerned, with 499 homes sold on average each month, with the city the fourth busiest market in Britain at present.

Leeds also ranks within the top five with 491 homes sold on average each month, whilst County Durham, Cornwall and Leicester also make the top 10.

Lomond’s Scotland CEO, David J Alexander, said, “The Scottish housing market continues to defy expectations. Not only do prices keep rising, but volumes also remain remarkably high. Normally a greater supply of homes reduces demand resulting in falling prices. In Scotland at the moment this is not the case.

“What is clear is that there is no single answer to why this is happening but there are definitely parts of the Scottish market which are hot and attracting many more buyers than there are properties.

“For example, Edinburgh benefits from local buyers, from those across Scotland, throughout the UK, and internationally. Its status as a global destination has never been greater and this is why, despite very high levels of housing supply, demand is even greater resulting in prices continuing to rise. Glasgow also remains an enormously popular city with buyers resulting in higher prices.

“The usual situation for the housing market is to have a steady flow of properties for sale resulting in a moderate annual increase in prices over the long term. Clearly the Scottish market is outperforming this with demand and sales both increasing. Whether this is sustainable in the long term is open to question but at present this is a market that is doing extremely well and this is to be welcomed.”