Surveys obscure Perthshire housing truth

Sir, – Two recent surveys of house prices (The Courier, January 1) seem to have conflicting conclusions but, as stated one, Halifax, covers Perth and the other, Aberdein Considine, covers Perthshire.

The Perth survey shows a drop in prices and thus demand, and the Perthshire survey shows an increase in average price and thus demand – or so you would think.

Rural Perthshire is awash with large houses that sell for millions and it would only take a couple extra of these houses to be sold in the year, to skew the market.

The top 10 properties sold in Perthshire last year would top £15 million pounds.

A couple of extra sales of this type of house would lift the average house price for Perthshire by £4,000.

Last year, according to one of the surveys, there were 900 house sales in Perthshire.

Of that number the top 1% can alter the average by £4,000 so, using average house prices as a guide to the state of the housing market is not the best way.

Perhaps a median price would be a better and more accurate way to measure house prices.

There is not a massive demand for new houses in Perthshire and no need for the massive developments the council are granting permission for.

Builders are selling unsold houses to housing associations and offering to buy-back houses a few years old, if the owners want to buy a new house.

These methods might not alter average prices but they do alter sales figures and can deceive the market by altering the perceived demand for houses.

I would like to add that Perth and Kinross Council’s comment that there is a need for 1,000 new houses a year might be true, but at least half of these would be for the rental market.

If only 900 houses a year are sold from new and existing stocks and, say, 200+ are people down-sizing and 200+ are up-sizing, then half the sales are from existing stock where people are basically swapping houses.

The numbers don’t add up to equal the amount of houses the council think is required.

There is already about 30 years’ worth of development land available stock in Perthshire.

The only reason the council can’t see this must be the Ivory Tower has mirrored glass in its windows. George Mailer. 16 Hunter Street, Auchterarder.

Surveys disguise the reality of Perthshire’s housing requirements, a correspondent argues.