10 May 2021
Cautious optimism as Aberdeen property prices are on the up
Property prices in many parts of the Aberdeen area have been on the rise again at the start of this year.
This welcome jump comes after a lengthy downturn following on from
the downturn suffered by the area’s oil and gas industry.
ASPC chairman John MacRae believes there are now grounds for optimism that the recovery in the homes market will continue.
The improvement is revealed by ASPC in the latest market report for the first quarter of this year.
The biggest increase was recorded by Inverurie, which saw a year-on-year rise of 6.6%.
The figure for Aberdeen was 5.4%, while Stonehaven achieved 4%.
Mixed picture
However, prices were not on the up for the whole north-east, as Ellon was down by 3.7% while countryside properties slipped by 3.8%.
Mr MacRae said the latest market report had brought encouraging news.
He added: “We have a strong positive indicator on prices, the first in several years.
“The first-quarter figures are always of interest because, by the end of March, we generally have a good indication how the market is likely to be during the year.
“The last quarter of 2020 had seen unusually-good activity in our local housing market. This was very welcome, given the year that we had endured.”
Mr MacRae said it was invigorating to see that results for the first quarter of this year continued to show improvement in the local housing market.
Traffic
He also highlighted an increase in ASPC’s website traffic, with this March recording its highest-ever figure.
In the first quarter of this year, there were 1,282 transactions for residential properties in Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire – up 24.3% year-on-year.
This splits down to 347 flats, 484 semi-detached houses and 451 detached houses.
Mr MacRae said that, despite the severe knockback to housing-market activity last year due to Covid-19, there was evidence of increasing confidence and activity after lockdown was lifted.
He added: “The activity was not of ‘boom-time’ proportions, but was welcome.
“The first quarter of this year appears to be continuing at similar levels of activity and is also having an upward effect on price.
“Do bear in mind that we are in a recovery situation - prices are still, in the main, below the levels of 2014, but there are grounds for optimism that the recovery will continue.”
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