Official statistics published by Registers of Scotland on 26 April 2016 show that there was a significant increase in the volume of residential property sales across Scotland – including Moray – during January to March 2016, as compared with the same quarterly period in 2015.
The countrywide total of 19,802 properties sold was an increase of over 18% on the previous year. In Moray, the increase was even greater: 27%.
Increased volume but lower average price per property
Although the total number of houses sold showed an increase, the average price per property was lower, by over 8%. The average price of a residential property across the country was just over £159,000.
A spokesman for Registers of Scotland said that there had been a consistent increase in the volume of sales throughout the current financial year (2015/16). In comparison to last year, however, there was a greater increase in the volume of lower value properties changing hands, which would account for the lower average price.
How Moray compares
In Moray, the average price of a residential property was about £145,500, compared to just under £150,000 in the same period last year. This represented a reduction in the average price of a residential property of about 3%. In other words, although Moray showed a reduction in house prices in line with the national trend, there was not such a significant reduction in average values as elsewhere (3% reduction, compared to 8% nationally).
Average residential property prices in Moray remain at a level below the national average (£145,500 compared to £159,000).
The volume of house sales in Moray increased from 287 (2014/15) to 364 (2015/16) as between the 2 quarterly periods. This represented an increase of about 27% on the previous year. Again, an increase was in line with the national trend but the percentage increase in Moray was greater than the national average (27% in Moray, compared to 18% nationally).
Looking at individual regions, Midlothian showed the highest percentage rise in the volume of sales (48%, compared to Moray’s 27%). The largest percentage rise in average property prices was in North Lanarkshire, where the average property price rose by about 7% (compared to Moray’s -3%). East Renfrewshire is the area of Scotland with the highest average property price (£222,303 for January to March 2016)
The Registers of Scotland statistics include all residential sales, whether they involved a mortgage or not.
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