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The latest news from the property market
AN unexpectedly strong property market in 2020, which saw prices rise by 6.4 per cent during the fourth quarter of the year compared to the same period in 2019 – has prompted Savills to upgrade its previous UK house price forecasts for 2021 from zero to 4 per cent growth. In addition, the firm’s new five-year UK forecast anticipates total house price growth of 21 per cent by the end of 2025 – and an even higher figure of 22.8 per cent for Scotland. Interest rates are expected to remain low, supporting growth, while the base rate is assumed to hit just 0.5 per cent by 2025 according to Oxford Economics.
Faisal Choudhry, Savills’ head of residential research in Scotland, comments: “2021 is going to be a complex and uneven year, with competing forces impacting the housing market at different points. The outlook has improved since the beginning of the year given the speed of the vaccination programme, the expected relaxation of social distancing measures on both sides of the border and government support for jobs and for the housing market.
New data reveals ‘sales agreed’ remain well above the pre-pandemic norm, with the same true of mortgage approvals. That points to a strong first half-year which, together with the introduction of the mortgage guarantee scheme, underpins our expectation of 1.4m transactions in 2021.”
Savills predicts a particularly strong market performance in Scotland, where lower ‘house price to household income’ ratios leave more capacity for price growth. Scotland will continue to attract local up-sizers and buyers relocating from other regions. Price sensitivity will remain a factor this year, but the value gap between London and Scotland will drive the market.
AS a consequence of the pandemic and lockdown, living in a home with a garden and/or close to open green space has shot up in importance for home buyers, which bodes well for a new breed of property development in Perthshire on a site previously home to Ochil House Sanatorium, a setting Victorians deemed ideal for convalescence owing to its fresh air and high altitudes.
Newly launched, Athron Hill is a collection of 11 contemporary properties which offer buyers the opportunity for shared ownership of 150-acres of surrounding private wooded parkland.
The first phase of homes has launched off-plan and will feature natural materials to harmonise with the landscape, split-level kitchen, dining and living area, wrap-round windows (most of which are south-facing), cinema room, double garage, patio and garden areas – and for those studying or working from home, there’s a separate studio/office.
Dan Multon, director with Athron Hill Development Company, comments: “At Athron Hill we are offering the good life. The setting is something to be seen and creates the perfect balance for buyers of being in an idyllic location with amazing views towards Loch Leven and the Cleish Hills, but easily accessible from Dunfermline and Perth.” Prices range from £545,000 to £555,000 for the first release of fourbedroomed family homes.