There has been a slight fall in house prices across East Central Scotland, according to the latest ESPC House Report, although certain areas continue to buck the trend, including Dunfermline and parts of Edinburgh.
June’s House Report shows that there was a 0.5% fall in house prices between April and June 2015 compared to the same period last year.
According to ESPC, one possible reason for this fall could be that fewer properties valued over £300,000 were sold in this period, which has led to a drop in average prices. There was an increase of these houses on the market at the start of the year, as sellers tried to complete the sales of their homes before the introduction of the Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (LBTT).
However, although prices have fallen slightly on a month to month basis, the average price for the first six months of this year is still 9% higher than the same period of 2014.
Certain areas of Edinburgh continue to show steady house price increases. Gorgie and Dalry continue to be popular with first-time buyers, and prices for one bedroom flats in these areas have increased by 11.1% compared to the same period last year. Leith Walk and Easter Road have also seen price increases, but at a much smaller level – 0.4%.
Prices for two bedroom flats in the Edinburgh areas of Stockbridge and Comely Bank have risen by 10% compared to the same period last year, taking the average price to £276,551.
“We’re continuing to see the impact of the introduction of LBTT on the regional property market as average property prices have fallen in the period of April to June 2015, after LBTT was implemented on 1st April,” explained Maria Botha-Lopez, business analyst for ESPC.
“A surge in average property prices in the first quarter was driven by larger volumes of high-end property sales, and now we are seeing a decrease in average property price driven by smaller volumes of high-end property sales in the second quarter,” she added.
“By comparing the first six months of this year against the same period last year we see a 9% growth in average property prices, which looks like we have a better chance of balancing out the waxing and waning of the LBTT effect on property prices,” she concluded. “It will be interesting to see whether this effect will taper out in the coming months.”
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