Surveyors are optimistic over Spring house sales

Sellers in Scotland are optimistic about the housing market and continue to put their homes on the market, while buyers are still thin on the ground, according to the Royal Institutution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS).

The latest RICS UK survey found that while the number of new instructions to sell in Scotland remain stable, chartered surveyors north of the Border are the most negative in the UK about the next three months.

Surveyors said that problems accessing affordable mortgage finance continue to hinder many first time buyers who would otherwise be looking to get onto the property ladder.

A total of 7 per cent of respondents said prices had risen in Scotland – up from just 2 per cent last month – while 63 per cent said they had stayed the same and 30 per cent said they had fallen.

Sarah Speirs, director of RICS Scotland said: “The housing market in Scotland is still flat as affordable mortgage finance is still out of reach for many potential first time buyers.

“But some surveyors are reporting interest in the lower end of the market from investors and this could help get the market moving again, as people sell their first homes and move up the property ladder.

Realistically priced homes are the ones attracting buyers.”