Sales of million pound Scottish homes doubles

According to the Bank of Scotland Million Pound Property Report, sales are up 158 per cent compared to the same period in 2014, which is in stark contrast to the rest of Great Britain which has seen an 11 per cent decrease.

Edinburgh has seen the highest increase in million pound homes sales in Scotland, with 42 more in H1 2015 compared to the same period last year.

The capital makes up over half (57 per cent) of the million pound sales in Scotland as a whole. In H1 2014 Edinburgh was the only area in the top ten for Scotland to see a decrease in million pound sales since H1 2013 (25 in 2013 to 21 in 2014) so this is a particularly dramatic increase in the last year.

East Lothian has seen the second highest increase in sales with seven more than in H1 2014, accounting for 8 per cent of Scottish sales. While East Renfrewshire and Glasgow both had the third highest increase, with four sales compared to none in H1 2014, they only account for 4 per cent of overall sales in Scotland. Aberdeen took 7 per cent of the Scottish million pound property sales market having eight sales in H1 2015, two more than the same period last year.

In Great Britain as a whole, the number of property sales worth at least a million pounds fell in the first half of 2015. Sales were down by 11 per cent compared to the same period in 2014 – from 6,303 to 5,599 – which is in stark contrast to the 46 per cent increase seen in the first half of 2014. This is the first decline in sales since H1 2012 when the number of property transactions in this market segment contracted by 7 per cent over the corresponding period in 2011.

It’s no surprise that London is the region with the highest number of million pound property sales in the UK (3,703), followed by the South East (1,037) and the East of England (403). However, Scotland sits in fifth place with 111 sales in H1 2015.

Nitesh Patel, economist at Bank of Scotland said: “The amount of homes in Scotland that have sold for more than a million pounds has more than doubled within a year, which is a stark contract to Great Britain as a whole, which has seen an 11% decrease. Sales south of the border may have been impacted by the new Stamp Duty rates last December; whilst the equivalent Land and Building Transaction Tax came into force for Scottish homebuyers only in April.

“It’s no surprise that Edinburgh had the most million pound sales in Scotland, however four regions went from having no sales last year to three or four this year - East Renfrewshire, Glasgow City, South Ayrshire and South Lanarkshire. Edinburgh, East Lothian and Aberdeen continue to dominate the market share of million pound property sales in Scotland.”