Callum McDonald

The firm said it had sold around £170 million-worth of properties in the year to July 31, £110m of which involved rural homes.

RCCW managing partner Callum McDonald said: “The north-east property market has continued to grow at pace, particularly in rural areas, which has required the strengthening of our branch network in the main satellite towns of Banchory, Stonehaven, Ellon and Inverurie.

“Our estate agency clients like to deal with people who know the area in which they are looking to buy property, and that is exactly what we offer in all of these branches.”

Mr McDonald added: “We took this step after seeing a clear shift in the number of people seeking to change from city life to out of town living, a trend which has been encouraged by the advent of more working from home.

“The number of properties we have sold has increased by an average of 21% across our branches outwith the city, and it is unlikely these changes will be reversed as businesses adopt hybrid working models.”