Another recently published report sees Edinburgh topping the charts for UK house price growth; this time from Zoopla.
While cities in Southern England saw the weakest price growth, cities in the north of England and Edinburgh specifically saw the biggest increase in value over the past year. On average, house prices across the UKs 20 biggest cities saw a 1.7% annual growth however Edinburgh’s house prices rose by 5.1% over the same period.
According to Zoopla, home-owners in Edinburgh are benefitting from a supply-demand imbalance in favour of sellers, while in the South of England the power has shifted to buyers due to an oversupply of properties on the market causing property growth to cool.
Edinburgh’s resilience can be seen clearly in the following chart with consistently strong property value growth over the past 2 years (compared to other leading cities which have seen growth levels drop off in the past year).
Edinburgh sees the highest number of homes bought and sold in more than 10 years
Drilling down deeper into activity in Edinburgh, Warners Solicitors & Estate Agents report that property activity has grown substantially in the past 6 months compared to the same period last year. Warners brought more than 550 properties to the market for sale in the first 6 months of 2019, a jump of 23% in a year (Warners agreed offers on over 500 properties, an increase of 26.5% since the year before).This is the highest level of activity recorded since the market downturn in 2008. With more churn in the market the average premium paid to secure a home was 3.9% (down from 6.6% in 2018), a sign of a healthier market with more properties available to satisfy buyer demand.
Price of Scottish homes to rise by 14% if UK avoids disorderly Brexit
Looking forward, PwC’s latest UK Economic Outlook report forecasts that the average price of a home in Scotland is expected to grow by 14% by 2022, ‘assuming there is an orderly Brexit’ (!). Scotland is expected to see 1.7% house price growth this year, up to to 2.4% in 2020 then a further 4.7% through 2021 and 2022.
And finally
If you’re looking to increase the value of your property you might well consider giving it a Harry Potter theme! A one bedroom property at the top of the Royal Mile, dressed in its full Harry Potter glory has just gone on the market at a price of offers over £257,500, making it one of the most expensive properties in Scotland (when you break it down to a £ per square meter). Unbelievably the price makes it £4,900/sqm more expensive than the average house price in London. As Hermione would say Wingardium leviosa!!!