Property firm Rettie forecasting more sales of £1m-plus homes after record 2023

Major name in property finds that prime £1m-plus market last year withstood economic backdrop “better than the overall market”.

A property firm has sold a record number of Scottish homes with a price tag of £1 million or more – and said that while Edinburgh still dominates, sales there have fallen back by nearly 20 per cent, and most of the growth has been in Glasgow and the west. It said activity in this price bracket has withstood economic shocks better than the rest of the housing market, and will gradually increase this year as interest rates retreat.

Rettie said it was involved in 506 house sales of at least seven figures in 2023, up from 504 the previous year, with Edinburgh accounting for 50 per cent of overall sales. In fact seven EH postcodes ranked in the top ten in Scotland, and five were responsible for nearly 40 per cent of all sales, with the EH3 postcode (which includes the New Town and West End) ranked as the new number one location for £1m-plus sales, with 46 deals, and 2022’s top district EH10 (which includes Morningside) dropping to second spot.

However, Rettie added that the west has been catching up, with Glasgow and the rest of the surrounding area accounting for 134 £1m-plus sales last year, representing 26 per cent of all sales, and up by 39 transactions from 2022 – and fewer than 30 in 2017. There was also continued growth in St Andrews, with the KY16 postcode “continuing to be a strong performer”, with 21 £1m-plus sales last year.

The Old Parsonage, Lugton Brae, in Dalkeith, Midlothian, which sold for more than £1.3m. Picture: Rebecca Begley/Exposure Scotland.

Rettie MD Simon Rettie said trends seen by the firm in 2023 have been due to a combination of higher interest rates and buyer confidence, particularly in the £2m-plus super-prime market. He added: “For 2024, we forecast a gradual improvement in both buyer confidence and the rate of prime sales aligned with a drop in interest rates.”

The property firm in December said it was expecting a 1.5 per cent jump in house prices north of the Border this year after some slowing of activity in 2023, while the same month Bank of Scotland unveiled its latest list of the ten most expensive Scottish streets, with Ann Street in Edinburgh’s Stockbridge again topping the list.

Dr John Boyle, director of strategy and research at Rettie, has now said: “For the Scottish housing market as a whole, 2023 was a difficult year. However, the overall outcome was not as bad as some had initially feared at the end of 2022. In fact, the average house price was actually up 0.8 per cent for 2023, although market transactions were down nearly 10 per cent. What is clear is that the prime £1m-plus market withstood the market headwinds better than the overall market.”

A separate recent report by fellow Edinburgh-based property firm DJ Alexander found that average house prices in Scotland last year rose £7,599 to £190,341, while another study by property lender Together has found that the challenging economic environment has done little to dent younger Scots’ enthusiasm for getting onto the housing ladder, “far from creating a generation of self-styled Guppys”, (those who are giving up on buying a home), and boding well for the property market’s outlook.