Strong growth for Scottish property prices

Posted: 22 Oct 2007 12:28:02 GMT

Homeowners in Scotland have been given a boost with the news that house prices in the country saw annual inflation of 14.2 per cent in the third quarter of 2007.

Homeowners in Scotland have been given a boost with the news that house prices in the country saw annual inflation of 14.2 per cent in the third quarter of 2007.

New figures from the Bank of Scotland (BoS) show that prices increased by 0.7 per cent in the three months.

The annual figure is far higher than that recorded for the rest of the UK, which saw inflation of 10.7 per cent in the same period.

Martin Ellis, chief group economist at BoS, says that despite the huge increases, homes are still affordable in Scotland.

"House prices in Scotland are the still most affordable in the UK, despite an annual rise of 14.2 per cent," he commented.

"This increase is well above the UK average of 10.7 per cent. The average price of a house in Scotland is currently £141,158, which is 29 per cent less than the UK average of £198,898.

"Because of this large increase in prices over the past year, the gap between prices in Scotland and London has narrowed to 2.3 times, down from three times in the third quarter of 2002," added Mr Ellis.

A consortium of housing associations recently called on the Scottish government to invest around £750 million into the housing market in order to make sure that it remains affordable for first-time buyers.

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