The Bank of Scotland house price index (HPI) has revealed that the house prices in Scotland have boomed by 12.5 percent over the last year. This rise is well above the UK national average of 3.7 percent.
Irvine in Ayrshire has been named as a property hotspot after house prices there soared by over 44 percent. Commenting on these findings, Tim Crawford, group economist for Bank of Scotland, said that house prices in Scotland had actually slowed down in the first half of the year, but this slowdown was very less as compared to the rest of the UK, "A key factor behind the strength of the Scottish housing market is its relative affordability. The Scottish housing market is the most affordable in the UK and average prices in Scotland are one third lower than the UK average and more than 50 per cent lower than prices in Greater London," he observed.
He added that the survey had found that town with a close commuter link to Glasgow "have seen the best house price performance in Scotland over the past year, particularly those with average prices close to the £100,000 which have seen interest from first-time buyers."
Glasgow itself has seen only a 15 percent rise in house prices while erstwhile hotspot Edinburgh registered a 2 percent rise in average house prices. Only Musselburgh, which is located in close vicinity to Edinburgh, saw a 27 percent rise in the prices in an area that is fast becoming saturated according to experts.
The average house price in Scotland was £107,294 as compared to the £162,850 over the rest of the UK. Currently, Fraserburgh, with an average house price of £64,974 is the most affordable property location in Scotland as well as in the UK.
Posted
on : Sat, 23 Jul 2005 18:15 GMT | Mortgages News
By : Mike Lawson
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