Rics: housing shortage continues to push up Scottish prices

The latest RICS UK Residential Market Survey has determined that Scottish house prices expected to rise by 4.2 per cent per annum, over the next five years (a cumulative increase of around 25 per cent).

The October RICS UK Residential Market Survey shows house prices continuing to rise in Scotland as a shortage of new stock supports price growth, despite a slight easing in recent buyer demand.

For the third consecutive month, prices are reported to have risen in all parts of the UK in October.

In Scotland, 38 per cent more chartered surveyors saw house prices rise rather than fall and the outlook for the coming year is positive with a net balance of 54 per cent expecting to see further price growth.

Buyer demand levelled off in October following twelve months of steady growth while supply also remained broadly unchanged. Despite the moderation in demand, sales activity continues to rise in Scotland, with a net balance of 26 per cent more respondents seeing an increase in transactions in October.

Sarah Speirs, Director RICS in Scotland, said: “It is hard to get away from the issue of supply when it comes to the current state of the housing market. The legacy of the drop in new build following the onset of the global financial crisis is now really hitting home with both the sales and letting markets continuing to show demand outstripping supply on a month by month basis.

“RICS would like to see a commitment from the next Scottish Government administration that delivers a definite plan for delivering attainable targets across all housing tenures to ensure that supply needs are met.”

In the Scottish lettings market, demand is also continuing to outpace supply in the three months to October. This has been the trend nationally for some time, with the growth in demand continuing to outstrip that of supply. Unsurprisingly, rental expectations remain strong, with a net balance of 12 per cent of respondents expecting a rise in rents over the next three months.

Graham Toner, Graham + Sibbald, added: “Sales and demand to purchase through October have been relatively good, although new property coming onto the market does not reflect the steady demand.”