Average house prices in Dundee are £44,000 higher than before the Covid-19 pandemic and prices locally show no signs of dropping, with values remaining stable and strong.
The average prices of homes sold through our Dundee office in the 2022-23 financial year was £205,790. That compared to £161,786 in 2019-2020. The average price of properties sold by our teams in 2021/22 was £181,849.
In Edinburgh, the average price of homes we sold in this period was £322,250. An increase on the price of £259,893 in 2019-2020. Across Edinburgh and throughout the Lothians the average price in 2021/22 was £314,798.
After two years of unprecedented activity since the nation emerged from the first coronavirus lockdown in 2020, our estate agency team have seen volumes have returned to pre-pandemic levels.
Chris Todd, Partner in our Residential Property in Dundee, said: “There have been lots of headlines nationally about house prices dropping. That’s not the case here.
“In Dundee, and throughout Tayside, very few homes are going below their home report valuation.
“We’re not seeing prices drop. We are seeing them stabilise, though.
“Every housing market is local. And, locally, ours is continuing to perform healthily. Demand continues to outstrip supply. The same is true across other parts of Scotland.
“After a couple of quite remarkable years, we are seeing the market return to more normal levels of activity, last seen really in 2019.”
Property prices rose rapidly as the market intensified amid incredible demand following the lockdowns. Activity began cooling in the face of political and financial instability last year, which saw interest rates - which had been at historic lows for a number of years - increase, coupled with the rising cost of living. But this has not led to a price slump across Tayside or Edinburgh.
Maurice Allan, Managing Director of Residential Property, agreed the case is similar in Edinburgh: “For the vast majority of properties, prices are holding up well. What we’re not seeing now, however, are the extremes that we experienced in a relatively small part of the market when competition was at its most intense.
“We are not finding that properties are selling below their home report valuation. And properties are selling. Finance is still available for people - and many people still have healthy deposits.
“The issue is not whether people are worried about being able to afford to move, it’s whether they can find the right property to suit their circumstances, whether that be needing a bigger home, downsizing or relocating.
“If they can find the right property to move to, they will put their current home on the market. It’s a supply and demand issue.
“Most people are trading in the same market. So, if someone finds the right home and they are ready, we are finding they just go for it.”
The current Bank of England interest base rate is 4.25%. Some mortgage market analysts have stated that they expect mortgage rates to gradually decline throughout the year, even if interest rates go up.
According to solicitor estate agents’ collective ESPC, the average selling price of property across Edinburgh, the Lothians, Fife, and the Borders rose 1% to £270,284 during January to March this year. Its members recorded the average property achieving 102.8% of Home Report valuation at sale.
And it’s equivalent in Tayside, the TSPC, reported average selling price of £175,164, an increase of 9.3% year-on-year, attaining 104.2% of their Home Report valuations at sale.