Scots estate agents see major sales boost, bucking UK-wide trend

Estate agents in Scotland have been seeing some of the biggest property sales increases in the UK – in contrast to the nationwide drop amid a chronic housing shortage.

Property data and estate agent prospecting platform Homesearch.co.uk has analysed its property data, finding that estate agents in Scotland have seen a 26 per cent year-on-year rise in sales volumes on average.

The Outer Hebrides emerged as the best-selling area for agents north of the Border with a 62 per cent increase in sales transactions, while the lowest jump in Scotland was found to be Motherwell at 16.1 per cent, ahead of the highest area increase in sales across England and Wales, which was 13 per cent in Harrogate.

Edinburgh came top nationally for being the most lucrative to estate agents, with more than £4.2 billion of property sales generated by such firms in the last year. Additionally, Kirkcaldy agents have seen a 10.6 per cent or £17,475 increase in average house prices year on year – the highest in Scotland – while Edinburgh saw the biggest fall at 4.4 per cent or £12,855. Across Scotland, 81 per cent of areas have seen sale prices grow.

Sam Hunter, co-founder and chief operating officer at Homesearch, commented: “It’s very clear from our data that the housing market in Scotland is buoyant compared to other areas of the UK where 72 per cent have seen a decrease in sales transactions.

“The challenge facing estate agent businesses – that aren’t experiencing rapid growth – is mainly a chronic shortage of sellable housing stock, with 29 buyers on average competing for every one property on the market.”