House price prospects bright after Lindsays posts record £100m sales

House price prospects look bright for 2021, according to a Scottish legal firm that has notched up almost £100 million-worth of sales in just four months.
Andrew Diamond, partner and head of residential property at Lindsays, has pointed to an 'incredibly robust housing market'.Andrew Diamond, partner and head of residential property at Lindsays, has pointed to an 'incredibly robust housing market'.
Andrew Diamond, partner and head of residential property at Lindsays, has pointed to an 'incredibly robust housing market'.

Experts at the residential property division of Lindsays are upbeat after revealing details of their busiest four months on record.

Between August and November inclusive, staff at the firm’s offices in Edinburgh and Dundee saw a near 50 per cent rise in the number of homes sold when compared to 2019. The total values realised, at £98.8m, were up 77 per cent on the same period last year.

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Meanwhile, the number of valuations the firm carried out in the same timeframe rose by nearly two-thirds, highlighting strong levels of interest from potential sellers.

Andrew Diamond, partner and head of residential property at Lindsays, said: “This is an incredibly robust housing market.

“It has been through the early implications of Brexit for the first time, the coronavirus pandemic and is now staring down the next phase of Covid, Brexit and other constitutional uncertainty, yet it remains strong.”

He added: “Covid-19 is a different situation to the financial collapse in 2008, when the banks weren’t lending. They are still making money available – and at low rates of interest.

“Could the market go south significantly? Possibly. Do I think it’s going to? Probably not.

“I think some of the heat has come out and that things will settle further, but I would be surprised if it went downwards. If there was going to be a downturn, I think we would be seeing signs of that now, which we’re not.”

In Edinburgh, the firm saw a 60 per cent rise on the year in the number of homes sold between August and November. Those properties achieved a combined value of £61m, compared to £34m 12 months earlier.

In Dundee, sale agreements were up by just over a third (36 per cent) on the same timeframe. Total values were £37.8m compared to £21.8m.

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Diamond added: “While demand has settled slightly, activity across the market remains high, with positives for buyers and sellers.

“Detached homes, for example, we could sell several times over as some people, who do not expect to return to full-time in-office working, look to move outside of city centres.”

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