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After coming to a screeching halt when the Covid crisis began, the property market is back in action

This has been a tricky year for the number crunchers who analyse the property market.

The latest provisional statistics from the UK House Price Index, published at the start of October, show that the average price of a property in Scotland in July 2020 was £155,335, an increase of 0.4 per cent on July 2019.

The volume of residential sales in Scotland in May 2020 was 3,085, a decrease of 67.7 per cent on the original provisional estimate for May 2019.

This compares with a decrease of 56.1 per cent in England, 60.4 per cent in Wales, and 68.3 per cent in Northern Ireland.

Commenting on the volume of sales across Scotland, Janet Egdell, at Registers of Scotland, said: ‘These figures clearly show the ongoing impact on housing market activity of the measures introduced to tackle the pandemic. The government guidance at the time was for housing transactions to be postponed and rescheduled wherever possible.

‘Throughout this period Registers of Scotland delivered a range of digital solutions to support those transactions that could go ahead safely while adhering to government guidance.

‘In subsequent months we have seen a significant amount of this delayed activity come through for registration.’ In Scotland, detached properties showed the largest increase, rising by 1.9 per cent in the year to July 2020 to £271,709. Flats showed a decrease, falling by 0.8 per cent in the year to July 2020 to £110,851.

Average price increases were recorded in the majority of local authorities, when comparing prices with the previous year.

Across the UK, residential property transactions rose 15.6 per cent in August following introduction of the stamp duty holiday.

Figures from the Building Societies Association show that there has been a marked uplift in the number of people, who say that now is a good time to buy a property: 37 per cent in September compared to 25 per cent in June.