House prices in Scotland have climbed £6,700 in the twelve months to December 2014 to hit a six-year high, nearing a pre-recession peak according to Your Move.
In December, the average house price in Scotland rose by 0.3% (£460), finishing the month at an average of £165,075. The average house price at the end of the year was the highest December figure of all time, and only £440 short of the peak average price in May 2008.
On an annual basis, house prices have increased by £6,688 or 4.2%, which is just 0.1% lower than the previous month.
Christine Campbell, regional managing director of Your Move, said: “Scottish house prices reached a crescendo at the end of 2014, ending on a high note with an all-time record December. After the brief unsteadying influence of the independence referendum, house price growth has firmly fallen back into a steady rhythm, and values climbed 0.3% in December.
“Speculation has been running wild as to the effect of plummeting oil prices on Aberdeen’s housing market. However, the cage doesn’t appear to have been rattled so far, and the city actually witnessed the biggest annual jump in house prices on mainland Scotland, up 10% in the past twelve months (equivalent to £20,438). Aberdeen is also holding its ground as one of the most expensive places to buy, and during December the Granite City recorded the highest price paid for a property in Scotland throughout the whole of 2014, at £3m.”
Transactions over the last five months of 2014 have been running at a rate of 8,500 per month, which is higher than the same five months in any of the six preceding years.
There was a 15% increase in the number of loans to first time buyers during Q3 2014, compared to a year earlier. This follows on from the two preceding quarters in 2014 in which loans to first time buyers were up 31% and 23% respectively, the same period in 2013.
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