Small signs of hope over house prices

Published on Monday 18 May 2009 10:02

HOUSE prices in Scotland continued to fall last quarter but there are small signs of market recovery, figures published today suggest.

Lloyds TSB said the average cost of a home dropped in each of the first three months of the year but April was marked by a rise.

In Edinburgh house prices have fallen by 7.6 per cent in the last quarter.

Nationally the bank's House Price Monitor recorded a 4.3 per cent fall in prices for the quarter, bringing the average cost of a home to 148,990. It compounds a slide in prices of 2.3 per cent at the end of last year.

Dundee and the north of Scotland saw the steepest drop in prices since January of 17.5 per cent and 16 per cent respectively.

The region encompassing Fife, Perth and Tayside was the only area to see a rise, recorded at 9.6 per cent.

The overall number of house purchases is down 35 per cent on the same period in 2008, with flats faring the worst.